8.8.25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the reading of the New York Times for Friday,
August eighth, twenty twenty five. As a reminder, RADIOI is
a reading service intended for people who are blind or
have other disabilities that makes it difficult to read printed material.
Your reader for today is Blanca Michael Ward. We begin

(00:23):
with Miriam Webster's word of the day winsome. Winsome an
adjective spelled w N s O M E. What it means,
winsome describes people and things that are cheerful, pleasant, and appealing.

(00:43):
Examples though a relative newcomer to acting, Maya won the
casting director's over with her winsome charm, which was perfect
for the role of the plucky young superhero our winsome guy,
and I'd put us at ease immediately. Miriam Webster's word

(01:05):
of the day winsome. We continue with the New York
Times bestsellers in combined print and e book non fiction
in first place. New This Week on Power by Mark R. Levin,
The Fox News host considers various facets of power and

(01:26):
its effect on history. In second place. Three weeks on
the list, The Idaho four by James Patterson and Vicky
Ward investigations into the murders of four University of Idaho
students on November thirteenth, twenty twenty two, in third place,

(01:47):
two hundred fifty four weeks on the list. The Body
Keeps the Score by besil Vandercolk, How trauma affects the
body and mind, and innovative treatments for recovery. In fourth place,
seventy one weeks on the list. The Anxious Generation by
Jonathan hit, a co author of The Coddling of the

(02:10):
American Mind, looks at the mental health impacts that a
phone based life has on children, and in fifth place,
New this Week Gwyneth by Amy O'Dell, a biography of
the actress and founder and chief executive of the lifestyle
brand Goop. Gwyneth Paltrow by the author of Anna. We

(02:37):
continue with the New York Times bestsellers in combined print
and ebook fiction. In first place, eight weeks on the list.
My Friends by Frederick Backman, a young woman looks into
the story behind a painting that was made twenty five
years ago and a small group of teens depicted in it.

(03:00):
Translated by Neil Smith, in second place, sixteen weeks on
the list. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir Ryland Grace
awakes from a long sleep, alone and far from home,
and the fate of humanity rests on his shoulders. In

(03:21):
third place, nine weeks on the list. Atmosphere by Taylor
Jenkins reed in the summer of nineteen eighty, Joan Goodwin
begins training with a group of candidates for Nassau's space
shuttle program. In fourth place, New this Week, she Didn't
see it coming by Sherry Lappino. Suspicions arise when Brydon

(03:45):
seems to have disappeared from her luxury condo building without
any of her belongings and in fifth place, thirteen weeks
on the list. One Golden Summer by Caring Fortune of
fataheographer returns to a place where she spent a summer
as a teenager and runs into the guy she had

(04:07):
a crush on back then. We continue with today's headlines
from the front page of the New York Times. Israeli
control over all of Gaza is declared go Netanyahu's remarks,
leader calling takeover temporary to assure our security. Worries around

(04:34):
world as steep Trump tariffs begin for ninety countries. He
claims victory, but foreign leaders and US businesses fear fallout,
rebuilding faces, lives, and identities. Even his ally's fault Kennedy
over vaccines, us aid's drugs to be destroyed, millions in

(05:00):
birth control intended for Africa. A fiery bandleader whose style
forged Latin music's Golden Age, combining Afro Cuban roots with jazz.
We begin with this story, Staggering US tariffs begin as

(05:22):
Trump widens trade war. This was written by Tony Rohm.
President Trump's punishing new tariffs on about ninety country snapped
into place on Thursday, sending foreign leaders in some of
the hardest hit economies rushing to contain the damage and

(05:44):
convince Washington to ease its escalating trade brickmanship. Few of
America's major trading partners were spared under the updated duties,
which together sent the average effective U S tar rate
to its highest level in nearly a century. Despite the outcry,

(06:06):
mister Trump remained ebulent as he heralded the higher rates
as a lucrative political coup, and his aides signaled even
harsher duties could be on the horizon. The President's levees,
which are expected to drive up prices for American consumers
and have spooked many businesses around the world. Officially took

(06:29):
effect just after midnight. They arrived one week after mister
Trump signed a set of executive orders that raised rates
and put into force the preliminary trade agreements that the
administration had reached in recent days with the European Union
and other countries. The President has long maintained that these

(06:54):
levees would help reset trade relationships that he deems unfair,
raise new revenue for the U. S Government, spur moore
U S manufactory, and achieve other goals. Just before the
tariffs took effect, mister Trump took to social media to
celebrate them as a fiscal success, claiming in all caps

(07:19):
that billions of dollars in tariffs are now flowing into
the United States of America. Around the world, however, the
mood proved more dour, particularly in Southeast Asia. Foreign leaders
continued to press mister Trump to relax as tariffs or
better explain his new trade policies, fearful of the effect

(07:44):
on their industries and workers. In Switzerland, officials labored unsuccessfully
to persuade the White House to reduce a surprisingly high
thirty nine percent tariff on its goods, and India continued
to push back against mister Trump after he announced he

(08:04):
would soon be doubling tariffs on that country, with one
local policymaker calling the president a bully. Wall Street generally
shrugged off mister Trump's tariffs, a dramatic reversal from only
four months earlier, when the President's initial slate of duties
provoked a worldwide sell off before the White House paused

(08:28):
its plans. The S and P five hundred stock index
ended the day slightly lower, but the latest expansion of
mister Trump's trade war seemed unlikely to pass without consequence.
In the United States, some experts reprised their concerns that
these moves might soon unleash new economic shocks. Even before

(08:54):
the new teriffs took effect, a growing number of businesses
had begun to warn that they made no longer be
able to absorb the rising costs of imported components and supplies.
In recent weeks, prices have started to climb, with the
latest monthly measure of inflation showing that appliances, clothing, and

(09:17):
furnishings had become more expensive. The economy has grown, but
only at an anemic pace, and some analysts predict little
improvement through the remainder of the year. The labor market
has experienced its own strains, with hiring slowing sharply. In July,

(09:40):
Olusinola had of US Economic Research at Fitch Ratings said
the economy was just starting to see the effects of
the tariffs that mister Trump announced in the spring, adding
that with the President's newest duties now in place, Americans
would see that Maggie ignified in coming months. With mister

(10:03):
Trump's actions on Thursday, the US effective tariff rate now
exceeds eighteen percent, the highest level since nineteen thirty four,
according to an estimate earlier this month by the Budget
lab at Yale. For American households, those duties may add

(10:23):
up to price increases, resulting in an average annual loss
of twenty four hundred dollars, the Yale Research Center found,
and for the broader economy, it could translate to a
drop in output, shaving off half a percentage point in growth.
Starting in twenty twenty five, the rate started fifteen percent,

(10:47):
targeting imports from countries including Bolivia, Ecuador, Iceland, Nijer. Others
like Taiwan have a twenty percent tax applied to items
sold to US. Says mister Trump also imposed a much
higher fifty percent tariff on some goods from Brazil. He

(11:08):
cast the sky high rate as punishment for Brazil's decision
to prosecute his political ally, Jar Bolsonaro, the country's former president,
for trying to stay in power after losing an election.
In general, the new round of duties does not apply

(11:29):
to foreign goods that had been loaded onto ships just
before August seven. Those products in transit won't be subject
to new taxes so long as they enter the United
States before early October, perhaps opening the door for importers
to amass more inventory before the steepest rates cut into

(11:51):
their bottom lines. Many smaller countries exports have faced ten
percent tariffs since the president first to announced then suspended
an initial wave of policies in April. Others have staved
off eye watering rates after brokering deals with the United

(12:12):
States that set their tariffs generally between fifteen and twenty percent.
That includes the twenty seven member European Union, as well
as Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam. Each of those governments
promised to open its markets to US goods, and in
some cases they pledged to invest billions of dollars in

(12:35):
American industries, but the exact terms of those deals remain murky. Separately,
mister Trump imposed a thirty five percent tariff on goods
from Canada not covered by the US Mexico Canada trade agreement.
The Canadian levies took effect last week. Similarly, high rates

(12:57):
have been suspended for Mexico while the two sides keep talking,
and duties on Chinese goods remain at thirty percent under
an agreement broker between the superpowers this year, though the
truce is set to expire August twelfth. On Thursday, Howard Lutnik,

(13:18):
the Commerce Secretary, signaled the United States was likely to
extend that deadline for ninety days as negotiations continue, but
mister Lutnik did not rule out other tariffs on China.
As the Trump administration begins to explore another salvo of
trade activity, this time focused on countries that buy oil

(13:43):
from Russia. The White House believes these tariffs might put
new pressure on the Kremlin, cutting off a key financial
lifeline and helping to end its war with Ukraine. Mister
Trump announced earlier this week that he would double duty
soon on India, another major buyer of Russian energy, later

(14:06):
prompting that country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to insist India
would never compromise. Other foreign leaders were left to piece
together the unresolved details on mister Trump's newly imposed tariffs,
particularly how he would carry out his promise to impose

(14:27):
an additional forty per cent tax on goods shipped through
lower tariff countries, a tactic known as transshipment. The threat
loomed especially large over Southeast Asia, raising fears that countries
like Cambodia could be punished for the rush of Chinese

(14:48):
factories that had set up shop there in recent years
to produce goods for sale globally. The rates that took
effect on Thursday are unlikely to be the final chapter
in the expanding trade war, which faces a series of
legal challenges in federal courts. The President still plans to

(15:10):
impose additional tariffs on foreign made medicines, computer chips, and
other products. On Wednesday, mister Trump said the forthcoming tariffs
on semiconductors, which have not been formally announced, would be
set at one hundred percent. Mister Lutnik, who spoke on

(15:30):
Fox Business Network offered new details about that proposal a
day later, explaining that there would be an exemption for
US companies that attest to the government that they are
working to make the powerful computer chips Domestically, the threat
reverberated globally, particularly in Taiwan, which produces most of the

(15:55):
world's semiconductors. Yen y Shingh, a representative from Taiwan's Trade
Negotiation office, told reporters that the country was still working
hard to secure favorable treatment on any tariffs affecting chips.
In the days since mister Trump unveiled his harsh duties,

(16:18):
the president has sought to dismiss evidence that his policies
may be upsetting the U. S economy, claiming instead this
week that costs our way down and that the country
would experience unprecedented growth. But Mark Zandi, chief economist for

(16:42):
Moody's Analytics, said that tariffs threatened to create an environment
that was very stagflation esque, referring to the risk of
a stagnant economy with inflationary prices that he added would
add to the challenge facing the Federal Reserve at a
time when mister Trump is demanding lower interest rates. Growth

(17:06):
is slowing, mister Zandi said, it's happening, and it's going
to become much more obvious. So far, the US economy
has sidestepped the most dire predictions of a recession, but
many experts say it was always going to be a
matter of time before Tariff's unleashed real noticeable effects, especially

(17:31):
because many businesses stockpiled imports before the steepest rates took effect.
Matthew Martin, a senior economist at Oxford Economics, said businesses
had worked their way through those inventories since the President
announced but quickly suspended his original slate of steep tariffs

(17:52):
in April. With tariff's climbing again, mister Martin continued, so
will prices. That is some thing that's going to accelerate
over the next couple months. We continue with this story
Swiss business's fear being annihilated by one of the world's

(18:15):
highest tariffs. This was written by Liz Alderman. The scene
looked hopeful at first glance, as social media post by
President Karen Keller Sutter of Switzerland showed her smiling and
shaking hands with Secretary of State Marc Rubio in Washington

(18:35):
on Wednesday, at a hastily arranged meeting after President Trump
had blindsided Switzerland with a punishingly high tariff. We discussed
bilateral cooperation, the tariff situation, and international issues, miss Keller
Sutter said of the meeting with mister Rubio, But what

(18:56):
she didn't have was a trade deal. So on, Switzerland
found itself in the uncomfortable position of facing a thirty
nine percent tariff on its goods in the United States,
one of the highest rates in the world. Swiss officials
are trying to untangle how their country went from being

(19:18):
a long time ally of the United States to an
apparent pariah in the eyes of mister Trump. After returning
to Switzerland early on Thursday, Miss Keller Sutter went straight
to an emergency meeting of her government to figure out
what course to set for further negotiations. At a news

(19:40):
conference after the meeting, she said officials would continued discussions
with Washington and had already optimized Switzerland's offer, without giving details.
They wanted to deal with the United States that would
lower tariffs, but not at any price. She said. For
tru the biggest issue is reducing the forty billion dollar

(20:04):
US trade deficit with Switzerland, and the Swiss had not
done enough to address that, a US official familiar with
the talks said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to
describe sensitive discussions. Guy Parmeland, the Swiss Economy minister, said

(20:24):
at the conference that the country's industries would be hit
hard by the high tariff rate, as well as the
uncertainty over when and whether it might be reduced. To
shield the economy from the prospect of mass layoffs, the
government will extend a furlough program that companies can use

(20:46):
to keep employees on standby, he said. Swiss business groups
have warned of a catastrophe for industries that export to
the United States, including makers of watches, industrial machinery, chocolate
and cheese. The worst case scenario has become a reality, Swissman,

(21:11):
which represents the Swiss engineering and tech industries, said in
a statement. If this exorbitant custom's burden is maintained, the
Swiss tech industry's export business to the ussay will be
effectively annihilated. The crisis has reignited a long standing debate

(21:34):
in Switzerland over whether to remain independent from the European Union,
which faces a fifteen percent tariff as part of a
deal with mister Trump, or whether the country should join
the block as a way of shielding itself from the
storms blowing from Washington. Members of Switzerland's Social Democratic Party

(21:55):
have been calling on the government to push for greater
in integration with Europe. Switzerland already took a step in
that direction in June when the government approved a package
agreed upon with the European Union to streamline their trade
ties after a decade of thorning negotiations. In the meantime,

(22:18):
mister Trump's tariff shock has prompted Swiss executives to turn
to a series of contingency plans, few of them desirable.
Georges Kern, the chief executive of the luxury Swiss watch
brand Brightling, said in an interview that the company had

(22:38):
enough inventory in the United States to last roughly three months.
We need to evaluate price increases not only in the USA,
but also around the globe to balance the costs due
to the tariffs, he said, noting that the company would
discuss sharing the burden with retail partners, including accepting lower

(23:02):
profit margins. If the U S tariff on Swiss goods
remains at thirty nine percent for a prolonged period. However,
the watchmaker will consider cutting costs and reducing investments in
the United States. Mister Kerr hoped for a trade agreement
in the coming weeks and said Swiss companies can and

(23:25):
will contribute to find a solution with President Trump to
address his concerns. Pierre Yves Bonvin, the chief executive of
Steiger Textel, a Swiss company that makes industrial knitting machines,
describe the tariffs as a tsunami. Swiss businesses had been

(23:48):
led by the government to believe that they would face
a top tariff of fifteen percent, he said, which they
could have managed a thirty nine percent tariff, led him
to question whether it was worth selling in the United
States anymore. He added. Another problem is that seventy percent
of Steiger's exports go to German companies, many of which

(24:11):
had planned to set up shop in the United States
to avoid mister Trump's tariffs. Those clients would potentially still
have to pay a steep tariff on his machines if
they brought them to the United States given a new
tariff on so called transshipments. A Swiss maker of presition

(24:32):
cutting tools said his company would start layoffs almost immediately
for its small American workforce of ten people, because it
could not afford to absorb the thirty nine percent tariff
nor pass the whole price increase onto its American manufacturing customers.
The dimming prospects for business in the United States also

(24:56):
drove the decision, according to the company's chief executive, who
spoke on the condition of anonymity, because he feared retaliation
by mister Trump or u S customs authorities against him
or his company. The Swiss government's focus now is getting

(25:16):
talks back on track. Officials thought they had made a
convincing case to their American counterparts to reduce an initial
thirty one percent tariff threat by highlighting the major investments
that Swiss companies have made in the United States, including
by the pharmaceutical giants Roche and Novardes. That paved the

(25:42):
way for what the Swiss thought would be a perfunctory
phone call between miss Keller Sutter and mister Trump, but
their conversation went off the rails. In a CNBC interview
on Tuesday, mister Trump expressed irritation with the call. The
woman was nice, but she didn't want to listen mister

(26:03):
Trump said of miss Keller Sutter, stressing that the tariff
rate was related to the large trade deficit the United
States has with Switzerland. Mister Trump's recent focus has been
on wrangling big deals with big economies, announcing agreements with
the European Union and Japan that reduced tariffs in exchange

(26:27):
for huge investments in the United States and energy purchases
from American producers. Switzerland has a population of just nine million,
but officials argued that their companies invested more in the
United States than any other country per capitive. The country

(26:48):
had eliminated import taxes recently on all goods except agriculture,
so nearly all American goods face no tariffs. They tried
to explain that three quarters of the trade deficit with
the United States was due to cold bullion and bars
refined in Swiss foundries, which do not face tariffs. As

(27:13):
Switzerland discusses what officials have called a more attractive offer,
it has some options, analysts said. Mister Trump has expressed
interest in having countries lower non tariff barriers, such as
value added Texas. He is also irked by high terraffs
on US agricultural goods the United States labels Switzerland the

(27:38):
currency manipulator during mister Trump's first term, after the Swiss
Central Bank intervened in the foreign exchange market to manage
the rise of the Swiss currency as the US dollar fell. Yet,
even if the government addresses these issues in a way
that appeals to mister Trump, Switzerland's trade deficit with the

(28:02):
United States narrows. Swiss goods may face high tariffs for
the foreseeable future. Next we have this story Israelis security
cabinet approves plan to take control of Gaza City. This
was written by Adam Rascon, Natan Odenheimer, Bronan Bergmann, and

(28:26):
Isabel Kirshner. The Israeli government early on Friday approved a
plan to expand the war by taking control of Gaza City,
a pivotal and risky decision that went against the recommendations
of the Israeli military. After ten hours of deliberations, a

(28:48):
majority of Prime Minister Benjamin Nettunne, Who's security cabinet, backed
his proposal, according to a pre dawned statement from his office.
At a later stage, which the military could potentially push
into central areas of the enclave, where Hamas is believed
to be holding Israeli hostages and where Israeli troops have

(29:12):
largely refrained from operating before, but the government announcement did
not explicitly pledge to do so. The goal, according to
the statement, is to achieve a decisive victory over Hamas,
which led the October seventh, twenty twenty three attack on
Israel that started the war. The plan also allows for

(29:36):
the provision of humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside
the combat zones, it said. The announcement appeared to stop
short of explicitly saying Israel would take full control of
the Gaza strip, which mister Netagna, who earlier said was
his intention. The cabinet also approved five principles for ending

(30:01):
the war, including the disarming of Hamas, the return of
all fifty hostages, twenty of whom are believed to be alive,
the demilitarization of Gaza, Israeli's security control over the enclave,
and the establishment of an alternative civilian administration there that

(30:24):
involves neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority, the rival Western
backed body that exercises limited control in parts of the
occupied westbec. It is likely to take the military days
at least to call up reserve forces, carry out troop

(30:45):
deployments for a push into Gaza City, and allow time
for the forced evacuation of tens of thousands of Palestinians
from the new areas of combat. Annalysts have said that
the plan for the new offensive may be a threat

(31:05):
to compel Hamas to offer concessions installed ceasefire negotiations. Days ago,
American and Israeli officials floated the idea of an all
or nothing deal for Gaza, in which all the hostages
would be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the

(31:27):
war would end under certain conditions, Otherwise the Israeli military
would continue its campaign. The Israeli military has said that
it has already conquered about seventy five percent of Gaza.
The coastal strip stretching from Gaza City in the north

(31:49):
to Communis in the south, is the main area outside
Israeli control. Many of the two million Palestinians in Gaza,
including those displaced from their homes, have squeezed into tents,
makeshift shelters, and apartments in those areas. Mister Netanyahu said

(32:10):
on Thursday that Israel planned to take control of all
of Gaza, bucking the advice of the Israeli military and
warnings that expanding operations could endanger the hostages being held
there and kill more Palestinian civilians. He made the comments
in an interview with Fox News ahead of the Security

(32:32):
Cabinet meeting. They came as talks to achieve a cease
fire and the release of the hostages have hit an impasse,
with Israeli and Hamas officials blaming each other for the deadlock.
When asked whether Israel would take over all of Gaza,
he responded, we intend to mister Netanya, who said the

(32:56):
move would assure our security, remove Hamas from power, and
enable the transfer of the civilian administration of Gaza to
another party. We want to liberate ourselves and the people
of Gaza from the awful terror of Hamas, he said
in an excerpt from the interview, without providing details on

(33:18):
any planned operation. The Prime Minister, however, suggested Israel was
not interested in maintaining permanent control over the entire enclave.
We don't want to keep it, he added. We don't
want to govern it. We don't want to be there
as a governing body. We want to hand it over

(33:39):
to Arab forces. In the excerpt published by Fox News,
mister ne'tanne who offered few specifics about his plan. Hamas,
in a statement on Thursday, said mister Netannehu's comments represent
a clear reversal of the course of negotiation and clearly

(34:01):
reveal the true motives behind his withdrawal from the final round.
Israel's expansion of military action would also be in defiance
of many other countries urging and into the nearly two
year war in Gaza. In recent weeks, Israel has come
under growing pressure from some long standing allies to do

(34:25):
more to address a hunger crisis in the enclave. The
Israeli military's chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, has
pushed back against the plan. According to four Israeli security officials,
who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues,

(34:47):
he has shared concerns about the exhaustion and fitness of
reservists and about the military's becoming responsible for governing millions
of Palestinians. They said the military leadership would prefer a
new cease fire instead of ramping up fighting. According to
three of the officials, a majority of the ministers believed

(35:11):
that the alternative plan put forward by the military would
not result in the defeat of Hamas or the belief
of the hostages, according to the statement from mister Netannahu's office.
In the earlier stages of the war, mister Netannahu and
the Israeli military clashed about strategy, but the latest episode

(35:34):
appeared to be the most significant showdown since the government
appointed General Zemir in February. At the time, members of
the governing coalition hoped that he would be more closely
aligned with their approach than his predecessor. In recent days, however,
he has been criticized by some supporters of the government.

(35:58):
The Israeli military relief comments made by General Zemir on Thursday,
in which he said that the culture of debate was
a vital component of the IDF's overall culture, both internally
and externally. Referring to the israel Defense Forces, we will

(36:19):
continue to express our position without fear, he added, That
is the expectation we have of our commanders as well.
The responsibility lies here at this very table. The military
beliefs it could seize the remaining parts of Gaza within months,

(36:40):
but setting up a system similar to the one it
oversees in the Israeli occupied West Bank would require up
to five years of sustained combat, three of the security
officials said. On Tuesday, Mister Netanyahu's office said in a
statement that the Israeli military would carry out any decision

(37:04):
made by the Security Cabinet. Members of Israel's opposition and
the families of the hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian
Islamic Jihad and Gaza have cautioned against expanding the military operation.
Conquering Gaza is a bad operational idea, a bad moral idea,

(37:29):
and a bad economic idea, Yayir l'apid, leader of the
Pera parliamentary opposition, told reporters on Wednesday after a meeting
with mister Netuyahu. The families of hostages worry that extending
Israeli control could lead to the military could lead the

(37:51):
military to inadvertently kill their loved ones or Hamas to
execute them. About two hundred fifty people were taken hostage
during the twenty twenty three Hamas led attack, and more
than three dozen hostages have been killed while in captivity.
According to an investigation by The New York Times, Hamas

(38:14):
is a brutal terrorist organization, and they'll kill hostages if
the military comes near them, said El Hannan Danino, whose
son Uri was killed by his captors a year ago
when Israeli soldiers were operating near a tunnel in southern
Gaza in which he was being held. Every moment they

(38:36):
are being held there, being starved puts their lives at risk.
Mister Danino added, I don't want to see other hostages
die the same way our son did. For Palestinian civilians,
the possibility that Israel could escalate its operation has heightened
fears that many more residents could be killed, and that

(38:59):
there are already miserable living conditions in Gaza could become worse.
They're talking about occupying areas that are packed with so
many people, said Muklis al Masari, thirty four, who was
forced to leave his home in northern Gaza and is
now in Conyunis. If they do that, there will be

(39:22):
incalculable killing. The situation will be more dangerous than anyone
can imagine. On Sunday, m mister Almasari said that his brother,
brother in law, and four nephews and nieces had been
killed and that his sister had been seriously wounded when

(39:45):
a school turned shelter was bombed in Kanyunice. He said
that he was staying in a tent near Al Nasar
Hospital in the city to be near his sister, who
is in the intensive care unit there. The Israeli Milli
military asked for more information about the bombing, but did
not provide for their comment. The military has said that

(40:08):
it strikes target militants and their weapons infrastructure in Gaza,
and has stressed that Hamas has embedded itself in civilian spaces.
We continue with this story. Public schools try to sell

(40:30):
themselves as more students use vouchers. This was written by
David Goldstein. A decline in the number of babies being
born and a boom in private school vouchers and homeschooling
have combined to create an enrollment crisis for public education.

(40:50):
The threat is so great that some school districts are
trying something that would have once seemed unthinkable. School systems
in Orlando, Newark, Memphis, and dozens of other cities and
towns have hired consultants who aggressively woo parents to convince
them to enroll their children in local public schools. Brian J.

(41:14):
Stephens has built a business around this new reality. Mister Stevens,
a political consultant based in Memphis, runs Kasha K twelve,
a consulting firm for public school districts with the tagline
we Recruit Students. Kasha K twelve has taken off with

(41:37):
over one hundred district clients. Its popularity illustrates some of
the challenges facing public education. Two thirds of traditional public
schools lost enrollment between twenty nineteen and twenty twenty three,
according to federal data. Low fertility rates mean that the

(41:58):
number of children in the United Slate States is starting
to shrink. At the same time, policymakers have introduced more
competition than ever, meaning many families have options beyond their
neighborhood school. Even public schools in Florida, one of only

(42:18):
a handful of states with a growing population of children,
are facing significant declines. Families have been attracted there by
the warm climate, new housing construction, and the increased ability
to work remotely. They can now choose from an array
of alternatives to public education. Florida has the nation's largest

(42:43):
school voucher program, known as a Universal Education Savings Account,
and over four hundred thousand Florida children now use public
dollars to pay for some form of private schooling. The
program is part of Governor ronde Is Santus' larger agenda
to remake education. He has attacked what he calls liberal

(43:07):
orthodoxy in the public school curriculum and restricted what schools
can teach. In Florida, seventy one percent of children continue
to attend a district school, but that share has rapidly
declined as enrollment in charter schools, homeschooling, and private education increases.

(43:29):
Similar demographic shifts could come soon to the rest of
the country. Republican leaning states are quickly expanding access to
private school vouchers, and in July President Trump signed into
law the first national voucher program funded by a federal
tax credit. Some Democrats are urging their own party to

(43:54):
reconsider private school choice, arguing that vouchers appeal to working
class voters. Orange County, Florida, home to Orlando, expects a
twenty five percent drop in district kindergarten enrollment this fall,
even though the county school age population has grown by

(44:14):
five percent since twenty twenty. Because schools are funded on
a per pupil basis, the loss of three thousand of
the district's two hundred thousand students could amount to a
twenty eight million dollar funding decrease. The district is considering
consolidating and rezoning schools. It has also hired Cashi in

(44:39):
K twelve to help it recruit back families tempted by
other options. We ourselves have to look at how we've
not been able to tell our own story, said Maria Vascaz.
The superintendent, Mister Stevens of Kasha, argues that school districts
must offer slicker to better customer service and the compelling

(45:04):
argument that they are better than the growing number of alternatives.
The monopoly is over, he said. In mid May, Casher's
team of paid canvassers fanned out across Orange County looking
for parents. Caroline Christian, a twenty five year old with
a degree in marketing, set up a table at a

(45:27):
boys and girls club after school program. Destiny Arnold, a
former police officer, looked for garden apartments with children's bikes
parked out front. The team also visited a homeless shelter
and a church preschool. They gave parents flyers advertising the
district's arts and career education programs. They also asked parents

(45:52):
for their phone numbers. Casha's staff members, who can earn
performance bonuses, might contact a parent twenty even thirty times
to prompt them to complete school enrollment paperwork. They urge
parents to visit district schools no matter what they've heard
or read about them. They also try to address what

(46:14):
mister Stephens argues are misconceptions about the superiority of private education.
Take class size. Mister Stephens said there's no solid data
evidence that a smaller class size equals a better adult.
If a child whose parent has been in touch with
Kasha shows up for public school in the fall, KASHA

(46:38):
will be paid. In Orange County, the company will earn
nine hundred thirty five dollars for each former student. The
firm attracts back to the district about ten percent of
state and local per pupil funding for that child. The
company has recruited two hundred students in Newerk since twenty

(47:00):
twenty two, and last year it found about one thousand
for schools in Memphis. According to the districts, those numbers
can translate into millions in revenue for schools. Some education
experts have pushed for other responses to dropping enrollment, such

(47:22):
as closing underutilized schools. When the Newark Board of Education
debated a two hundred seventy seven thousand dollars contract with
Casher last year, one member, Crystal Williams, argued that paying
consultants to pressure parents to come back to the district
was an unwise use of funds. She said it would

(47:46):
divert money from students already in district classrooms. Cassiu's work
can be slow going. At the Boys and Girls Club
in Orlando, one mother, who asked that her name not
be included, quickly rejected the suggestion that her daughter should
attend her ZWN school in a low income neighborhood. The

(48:08):
mother believed the school was rife with behavioral problems. Kasha
also conducts parent surveys for districts, which have shown that
perceptions of safety and academic quality drive school choice decisions.
Our job is to adjust the perception. Mister Stephens said,

(48:28):
there's always some positive stuff in every school. Mister Stephens
seems to fervently believe in the product he's selling. He
grew up in Central Florida and said public school helped
him transcend a speech impediment. Like other advocates for public education.
He sketches a vision of an ideal public school, a

(48:51):
diverse setting in which children learn together across differences of race, class,
and religion, and were still students with disabilities have a
legal right to services. He added that his team had
never encountered a district school that they wouldn't push to parents,
no matter how much it was struggling. It is true

(49:14):
that a school's quality and its enrollment trends line do
not always match up. Three quarters of Orange County public
schools earned an A or B on Florida School Accountability
Scorecard this year. Doctor Vasquez, the superintendent, also touts the
system's early childhood literacy reforms and options for high school

(49:38):
students to earn college credit. Nevertheless, of one hundred thirty
two district elementary schools, one hundred seven have had declining
enrollment since twenty twenty. The trend cuts across demographic divides,
affecting schools in Washington Shores, a low income neighborhood west

(50:00):
of downtown Orlando, and Doctor Phillips, an affluent area near
the Universal theme Park. Enrollment declines can push schools into
a downward spiral as funding plummets and enrichment programs are cut,
driving even more families to withdraw. It is not clear

(50:22):
whether students who use vouchers to leave public schools tend
to fare better academically. Recent studies have come to varying conclusions,
but in Florida, which offers families of all income levels
eight thousand dollars per child each year to pay for tuition,
many parents seem enthusiastic about the wider array of choices

(50:47):
they now have. At a playground overlooking Lake Iola in
downtown Orlando, almost all the parents said they were considering
something other than their zoned public school. Many mentioned academic rigor.
Marcus Clark, a twenty three year old who works in

(51:08):
door to door sales, said he believed his toddler daughter
would gain stronger reading and writing skills in a private
elementary school with smaller class sizes. Jasmine Robinson, a thirty
six year old photographer, was in the process of moving
her six year old Arden from public to private school

(51:30):
using a voucher because Arden had announced I'm bored. Miss
Robinson said she believed district schools were overly focused on
preparing children for standardized tests. She loved the fact that
when she visited the private school, she saw first graders
learning fractions. In public education, she said, a lot of

(51:56):
programs are not geared to really pushing the envelope with kids.
In Orlando, district leaders are trying to adapt as best
they can, including by trying to access some of the
voucher money themselves. This year, the district will begin accepting
voucher dollars from homeschool students, who can use the funds

(52:19):
to pay for classes a la carte. One of the
common arguments for private school choice is that competition could
force public schools to improve their offerings, and indeed, doctor Voscz,
the superintendent, is considering other big changes. Many parents fear

(52:39):
middle school, so doctor Voscs is exploring creating more k
eight kindergarten through eighth grade or sixth through twelfth grade schools.
She is also investigating whether the district can start its
own micro schools built around themes attractive to parents, such

(53:00):
as screen free education. Hiring Kasha was an easy add
on to her agenda, she said, since the company's fee
will be drawn from her per pupil revenue it generates,
and school administrators she readily admitted are not proficient at
sales or marketing. Mister Stevens is he calls himself politically agnostic,

(53:27):
but as more states embrace vouchers, his business stands to benefit.
I believe in choice. He said, if you're going to
be a good American Republican Democrat, whatever you want to be,
then let everybody compete. We continue with this story. Trump

(53:51):
administration to require universities to submit data on applicant race.
This was written by Michael C. Bender and in Enemona Hertaclus.
President Trump on Thursday ordered his Education Department to collect
data on the race, gender test scores, and grade point

(54:13):
averages of college applicants in an effort to scrutinize whether
universities are giving minorities preference in admissions. The move would
provide the government with information that has long been on
the wish list of conservative activists in search of evidence
that schools have been dodging a twenty twenty three Supreme

(54:35):
Court decision that largely barred the consideration of race in
college admissions. Admissions data has increasingly become a focus of
the Trump administration as part of its effort to shift
the ideological balance of academia, which the President views as
hostile to conservatives. Some legal experts say the new requirements

(55:00):
and may have a chilling effect on universities, which are
still allowed to consider race as part of a holistic
review of a student's application that takes into account qualifications
beyond test scores. Justin Driver, a Yale Law School professor,
said the changes whether it were another catastrophic blow in

(55:23):
the Trump Administration's ongoing assault on American higher education. It
signals the Trump administration's efforts to depress black and brown
enrollment and intimidate universities into decreasing black and brown enrollment,
said mister Driver, author of The Fall of Affirmative Action, Race,

(55:47):
the Supreme Court, and the Future of Higher Education. Some
of mister Trump's moves against colleges and universities have prompted
swift legal challenges from opponents who accused the administration of
skirting or ignoring laws, like Harvard University's lawsuit over billions

(56:07):
of dollars in stripped research funding. The Thursday's directive involved
a data collection system that federal law gives the Education
Department wide latitude to control, and that schools as a
condition of joining student aid programs agreed to supply with information. Still,

(56:29):
mister Trump's move on Thursday could eventually invite legal challenges,
perhaps on the basis of the federal student privacy law,
that might slow or stall the President's instructions. And universities
and the government could always tussle, of course, over any
consequences that come from conclusions that US officials draw from

(56:55):
submitted data. This concludes the reading of The New York
Times for to day. Your reader for to day has
been Blanca Michael Ward. If you have any questions, comments,
or suggestions concerning this program, please feel free to call
us at eight five nine four two two six three

(57:16):
nine zero. Thank you for listening, and now please stay
tuned for continued programming on Radio I