So since the program was being recorded, I felt free to write about it. Bumpers was first. Our schools are so bad, Bumpers said, the United States has the most illiterate voters of any democratic nation. Americans should forget about the idea of local control of schools. What we worried about was recruiting football coaches.
Bumpers supports national curriculum standards and paying teachers more money.
Elevate teaching to the level of other professions by raising salaries, thereby encouraging more young people to become teachers. Switching to politics, Bumpers predicted that Al Gore will be the Democratic nominee. Cutting taxes now would ruin it. Also, Bumpers is wary of the people Bush might appoint to the Supreme Court, since Bush says he most admires Antonio Scalia and Clarence Thomas, the most conservative members of the court. Bumpers predicts that the next president probably will get to appoint two justices in his first term.