The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

JIM LEHRER: Good evening. I'm Jim Lehrer. On the NewsHour tonight, Kwame Holman reports on the Senate's approval of normal trade with China. Gwen Ifill looks at the presidential candidates' quest for the women's vote. Special correspondent John Merrow begins a series on new teachers. And Terence Smith has an Olympic chat about Australia with two writers. It all follows our summary of the news this Tuesday.

NEWS SUMMARY

JIM LEHRER: The Senate today approved permanent normal trade relations with China. The vote was 83-15. It ends the 26-year-old practice of reviewing China's trade status every year. President Clinton said it would open a huge market to U.S. business and lead to reform in Beijing.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Outside competition will speed the demise of China's huge state industries and spur the enterprise of private-sector involvement. They will diminish the role of government in people's daily lives. It will strengthen those within China to fight for higher labor standards, a cleaner environment, for human rights and the rule of law. And we will find, I believe, that America has more influence in China with an outstretched hand than with a clenched fist.

JIM LEHRER: Labor unions and human rights groups disagreed. They said the bill would cost U.S. jobs and help a communist regime that oppresses its people. The House passed the measure in May. We'll have more on this story right after the News Summary. A Cuban plane was apparently hijacked today and went down in international waters off Key West, Florida. Cuban authorities said the plane had been commandeered. They offered no other details. There were ten people on board. The U.S. Coast Guard said one person was killed, but nine were rescued by a passing cargo ship. Three of the survivors were children. Governor Bush pressed his quest for the women's vote today. He appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey" show, and talked about tax cuts and education reform. He also said the biggest misconception about him was that he's running on his father's name. Vice President Gore appeared on the "Winfrey" show last week. We'll have more on the pursuit of the women's vote, later in the program tonight. The Vice President promised to protect medical privacy today. In Los Angeles, he said he would do more to prevent the sale of health records for profit. Last night, Gore attended a Hollywood fund-raiser. He said many in the entertainment industry supported his call to stop marketing violence to children. His running mate, Senator Lieberman, told the crowd, "we will nudge you, but we will never be sensors." The American Red Cross said today the U.S. Is having one of its worst blood shortages ever. 32 of the group's 36 regions have less than a day's supply, and hospitals in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Atlanta have had to cancel elective surgeries. In Washington, Red Cross president dr. Bernadine Healy made an emergency appeal.

DR. BERNANDINE HEALY, President, American Red Cross: We cannot sustain this shrinking in our inventory. You cannot have just in time for blood. There's no such thing, because when a donor comes in, you can't just transfuse it into another patient. We have to have that inventory. And we're talking about an inventory of three days to. To have an inventory of a day or less is simply unacceptable. It's not safe, and it's not prudent.

JIM LEHRER: Red Cross officials said the shortage stems from increased demand for blood and a smaller pool of donors. At the summer Olympics today, the United States won its sixth gold medal in swimming. Tom Malchow took the 200-meter butterfly in Olympic record time. And in soccer, the U.S. men made the quarterfinals for the first time. They beat Kuwait 3-1. Video of the competition remains available, due to the games' television contract. We'll have more on the Olympics' host country, Australia, at the end of the program tonight. And between now and then, the China trade vote; the women's vote; and new teachers.

UPDATE - CHINA TRADE DEBATE

JIM LEHRER: Kwame Holman has the China vote.

KWAME HOLMAN: Even with little more either side could say to sway their colleagues, and little suspense about the final outcome, Senate opponents of the China trade bill did not back down today from arguing their case. They pushed for assurances of greater protection of human rights in China and warned of growing Chinese military power. Minnesota Democrat Paul Wellstone made his last stand, gripping a copy of today's "Washington Post."

SEN. PAUL WELLSTONE, (D) Minnesota: Bishop Zheng, picked up last week, now imprisoned again-- I quote from the "Washington post" editorial-- Bishop Zheng has been guilty of a single crime all along. He's a Catholic believer. Mr. President, every Senator should read this editorial today before they vote.

KWAME HOLMAN: A short time later, Democrat Robert Byrd of West Virginia upbraided his colleagues for their expected vote in favor of the trade bill.

SEN. ROBERT BYRD, (D) West Virginia: It's hard for me to believe that after a year which has the Chinese government rattling sabers at Taiwan, continuing to brutally repress religion, and generally behaving like the Bobby Knight of the international community, and after a year like that, the Senate is still determined to hand the Chinese a huge early Christmas present called permanent normal trade relations.

KWAME HOLMAN: Democrat Ernest Hollings of South Carolina joined Byrd, expressing his frustration.

SEN. ERNEST HOLLINGS, (D) South Carolina: This vote's been fixed. This thing has been fixed since midsummer, Senator. You know it, and I know it.

KWAME HOLMAN: True to Hollings' prediction, the Senate easily passed the legislation that would permanently normalize U.S. Trade relations with the world's second largest economy. Senate passage of the bill, known as PNTR, paves the way for greater access of U.S. goods to China's markets. It also aids China's entry into the World Trade Organization, the globe's premier trading body. Democrat Patty Murray's Washington is one of the most trade-dependent states in the nation. It's a diverse economy that includes aerospace workers, wheat farmers, and longshoremen.

SEN. PATTY MURRAY, (D) Washington: If Congress fails to grant PNTR to China, we will hinder our broader relationship with that country, make it harder to promote change there, and damage America's workers and industries, as they compete with other countries for a place in China's market.

KWAME HOLMAN: And Missouri Republican Christopher Bond argued that opening China's markets would help improve its human rights performance.

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD, (R) Missouri: For all the backwardness of China on the issues of religious freedom and human rights, positive changes are under way on the economic front. We should recognize that the changes are a direct threat to the communist establishment in China. As the Chinese people become more aware of the opportunities that exist for improving one's life that is inherent in a free society, they will demand more rights from their government, and will demand the government become more responsive to the will of the people.

KWAME HOLMAN: Before the Senate could get to today's final vote, members had to wade through more than a week of formal debate and 18 amendments, all of which were defeated. Perhaps the biggest threat to the bill was an amendment by Republican Fred Thompson of Tennessee that would have imposed sanctions on Chinese companies caught exporting nuclear and other weapons. Republican Jesse Helmsand Democrat Paul Wellstone, usually fierce ideological opposites, united on amendments aimed at pressuring China to improve human rights. Helms vowed, even in the face of his amendments' defeat, that he would continue the fight.

SEN. JESSE HELMS, (R) North Carolina: So Mr. President, if the advocates of PNTR prove to be wrong, and if nothing changes in China in the wake of the United States Senate's final approval of PNTR this afternoon, I will devote whatever strength and influence I possess to limit any and all conceivable benefits that this legislation may hold for the Chinese communist government.

KWAME HOLMAN: Minutes before the final vote, Majority Leader Trent Lott took to the floor and acknowledged the concerns of the trade bill's opponents.

SEN. TRENT LOTT: I know that there are legitimate concerns about this legislation. And there are those that are having to struggle with whether or not we can trust China's compliance. There are legitimate concern about human rights violations and religious persecution and nuclear weapons activities. But I also believe that it would be a tremendous mistake to ignore the advantages of this trade legislation.

KWAME HOLMAN: The Senate's approval always was considered a foregone conclusion, and today's vote was overwhelming. 83-15. The tougher fight was in the House, which passed the bill in May. It now awaits the signature of President Clinton, who lobbied heavily for normal trade ties with China, and again expressed his strong support for the measure today.

FOCUS- WOOING WOMEN VOTERS

JIM LEHRER: Now, women voters and the presidential campaign, and to Gwen Ifill.

GWEN IFILL: Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush are working overtime to win the attention and the votes of women. On the campaign trail, Gore is talking about second opinions for breast cancer, protections for women in HMO's, child care.

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH: This is heaven, all kinds of babies to kiss.

GWEN IFILL: And Bush is taking on many of the same issues, visiting a maternity ward yesterday, and proposing a $ 500-a-child tax credit. His speeches this week focused on education, health care, retirement security. These issues, polls show, strike a chord with women who are primary caregivers for themselves, for their children, and for aging parents.

SPOKESMAN: Live in Chicago, Oprah

GWEN IFILL: In an effort to reach women who watch daytime television, both candidates sat down with popular talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

OPRAH WINFREY: Please welcome Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President of these United States, Al Gore. (Applause)

GWEN IFILL: Campaign strategists say they want to use daytime television to reach voters who might not otherwise be paying close attention.

OPRAH WINFREY: What difference is it going to make in our lives whether or not I vote for you or Mr. Bush? Why should I vote for you?

VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE: I'm for people, not the powerful. I've never been hesitant to stand up to powerful interests that don't necessarily have the American peoples' best interests at heart. I know something about the job as President. It's the only position filled by someone who has to fight for all the people, not just the well connected and the few. I want to keep our prosperity going, but make sure that it enriches not just a few, but all of our families. And I think that it's time to invest in education and health care and middle-class tax cuts and retirement security.

OPRAH WINFREY: Education, meaning put the four-year-olds in pre-kindergarten and have that universal for everybody?

VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE: My number one proposal is to have high quality universal preschool for every child in every family in every community across the country. (Applause)

OPRAH WINFREY: Please welcome presidential candidate and the governor of Texas, George W. Bush. (Applause)

GWEN IFILL: Today, it was George W. Bush's turn.

WOMAN: As a 25-year-old African-American woman with no children and no money, I qualify for broke, but I'm not poor. How do I fit into your platform, and the other millions of Americans just like me?

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, you fit into my platform by having a country that says the American dream is available to you. In other words, first and foremost, it doesn't matter how you're raised, what your background is. If you work hard, you can realize the greatness of the country. I don't know what your education background is like, but my vision says that every child is going to be educated in America. I want the public school system to hold out the promise for every single, every single citizen, so that when they got to be 25 years old, you can realize your dreams. See, I see America as a land of dreams and hopes and opportunities. And again, I don't know your personal circumstances, but I don't want anything to hold you back.

GWEN IFILL: Both men emphasized their strong marriages, and their love for their children.

OPRAH WINFREY: I want to know, how do you as George W. Bush define yours?

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH: As a dad, as a husband, as a patriot, somebody who loves America.

OPRAH WINFREY: One of our viewers has a question for you. Roll that.

YOUNG WOMAN: Al, I noticed you're a little stiff sometimes. I just wonder what makes you happy, what puts a smile on your face, what gets you going, what do you enjoy?

VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE: I didn't understand the part about being stiff sometimes. What gets me going is my family, Tipper, my kids, my grandson.

GWEN IFILL: Recent public opinion surveys show Gore has made striking gains among women voters in recent weeks. Most women say they consider him more likeable than Bush. One component of that turnaround: Public reaction to this dramatic kiss at the Democratic National Convention.

VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE: It was just the most natural thing in the world to me to express my feelings.

OPRAH WINFREY: Would you say it was calculated? A lot of people said calculated.

VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE: One of the reporters asked me afterwards, were you trying to send a message? (Laughter) And I said, "I was trying to send a message to Tipper." (Applause)

GWEN IFILL: Bush put his sense of humor on display today as well.

OPRAH WINFREY: Here's another viewer who emailed us with a question for you. Here it is.

MAN: Governor Bush, what is the public's largest misconception of you?

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH: Probably that I'm running on my daddy's name; that, you know, if my name were George Jones, I'd be a country and western singer.

GWEN IFILL: According to a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, women now favor Gore over Bush 50% percent to 37%, a 16- point increase for Gore just since July.

GWEN IFILL: For more on how the gender wars will play this November, we turn to four women who follow the issue: Senator Patty Murray of Washington State is an adviser to the Gore campaign. Representative Jennifer Dunn, also of Washington State, is a Bush campaign adviser. Ruth Mandel is director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. And Karlyn Bowman is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Welcome everyone.

GWEN IFILL: Congressman Dunn... Congresswoman Dunn, why it is that women in particular should vote for George W. Bush?

REP. JENNIFER DUNN, (R) Washington: Well, I think you got a taste of George W. Bush on television on Oprah today. And he showed qualities of leadership. He showed a great sense of humor. He talked a little bit about his position on issues, and he stressed education, which I believe is very important to all of us who have seen our children through this phase of their life and want to be able to give something great to our children. He wants to localize control in that area. And he also talked a touch about health care, where he wants to give choice to women -- let them keep their OBGYN, their doctor, but let them be able to have the best health care in the nation. So I think adding that all up, this is a guy you can have confidence in, and who respects women in his life. That's very important to all of us women.

GWEN IFILL: Senator Murray, the same question to you, why is it that women should vote for Al Gore?

SEN. PATTY MURRAY, (D) Washington: I think you can look behind just the words of education or health care and look at the policies, and I think that's what women really have done in the last month-- and know that there are actions behind the words that really mean their kids, their families are going to have better health care, a better education, that we're investing in reducing class sizes and bringing new teachers into our classrooms so that all kids get a chance at a good education, that a patient bill of right, a real patient bill of rights will pass under a Gore administration. That means that when you go to the doctor with your child or with your parent, that you're going to have specific protections. And I think those issues play very well for Al Gore.

GWEN IFILL: Why are those issues considered women's issues?

SEN. PATTY MURRAY: Well, you know, I think it's great that women... that the men candidates are really paying attention to the women's issues, because that means that our issues are going to come to the forefront. And you say our issues, women's issues, well, by and large, it's women who take their kids off to school or who go to the doctor with their child and run first-hand into the problems that they're facing. And so these have risen as women's issues, but, in fact, they are men's issues, too. And we are seeing more and more men who are looking at women's issues and making their decisions about who they're going to vote for.

REP. JENNIFER DUNN: And, Gwen, I would just add that I think the whole spectrum of issues are women's issues. I don't think we should be limited or demeaned into a position where we're interested in only certain things. Women worry about things at night. When they go to sleep, it's the things they worry about that we ought to be addressing in politics today. And that doesn't leave out the whole area of women who are starting businesses at twice the rate of men and are very worried about tax policy, want to make sure they're not going to be run into the ground by the government taking taxes and cutting them out of an opportunity to start their own business.

GWEN IFILL: Ruth Mandel, then how do we explain the gender gap, which always seems to favor women's... often seeming to favor Democratic candidates, in this case Al Gore is benefiting from that - how do we explain that?

RUTH MANDEL, Rutgers University: Well, it certainly has to do with the issues, and the issues that the Senator and the Congresswoman have just talked about are some of the ones being discussed in this campaign most intensely. But the gender gap was identified 20 years ago now. And the way it's broken, that is the difference between the way men and women have been voting, the way it's broken over these 20 years is that women have tended to vote more in larger numbers for the Democratic candidate. They've favored the Democratic candidate. And what we saw a few months ago and earlier into the summer was some polling that indicated that that didn't seem to be happening this time. And that frankly for those of us who have been watching for the last 20 years was very puzzling. What's really happened now in that figure that you... I think it was 37% to 50% is what it's looking like, it's beginning to look a little bit more like the way the gender gap has been moving. There was an 11-point gap for Bill Clinton in the 1996 election. And that was the largest gender gap ever in a presidential election, but it is women who elected him and women who were voting Democratic. I think one other point I just want to... I'd like to make because we talk about women and women of course are all different kinds of women. And the campaigns know that. We know that. There are older women. There are younger women. There are white women. There are women of color - economic differences, education differences. And there are certainly priorities that change and shift among these groups. Nonetheless, the general tendency has been for women to favor the Democrat, and Al Gore seems to have pulled his base of women together since the convention.

GWEN IFILL: What's your sense of that, Karlyn?

KARLYN BOWMAN, American Enterprise Institute: I agree with Ruth about a number of things. The gender gap is a permanent feature of our politics. It's been with us since the 1980 campaign. We have to look at both sides of the gender gap. Women look a little bit more Democratic. Men look more Republican. And the problem that Al Gore had in the spring and summer of this year is he was especially weak among male voters. He's doing better since the convention, but that's still a problem for the Democrats.

GWEN IFILL: That's an interesting point, though. If he's doing... does that outweigh his strength among women voters?

KARLYN BOWMAN: Well, women are a larger share of the electorate. Ever since 1980, the rate of voting by men and women has been the same. Women have been participating in slightly higher numbers than men. If you look at the data available to this election, about eight million more women could vote than men but probably about four million more women will turn out than men.

GWEN IFILL: I just want to follow up on that. How are the women's issues that we've been talking about, the issues that women respond to, how are they different from what men want to hear?

KARLYN BOWMAN: Well, there are some differences that drive the gender gap. Women favor a slightly stronger role for government. They are more risk averse. They're less likely to approve of the use of force, things like gun control and the death penalty. And they're more concerned about the country's economy, though they're equally... men and women are equally positive about their personal futures. So those are the things that divide the sexes.

GWEN IFILL: Senator, you wanted to say -

SEN. PATTY MURRAY: I was going to mention, you said that surprisingly a month-and-a-half ago there wasn't that big of a gender gap and it's changed. That really didn't surprise me because women tend to look at personalities first, and two things happened for Al Gore during the Democratic Convention. One, women saw him as a more personable human being in that, but also, as you get closer to the election women tend to really focus on the issues, and what the specifics of those issues are, and those have fallen in the favor of Al Gore, because his specifics about reducing class size, or making sure that prescription drugs are covered under Medicare, or that you can go to your OBGYN Are issues women really pay attention to.

GWEN IFILL: How about that, Congresswoman?

REP. JENNIFER DUNN: Well, I think as we move closer and closer to the election women will get particular about those issues, and when they see the agenda that Vice President Gore is sponsoring, bigger government, more taxes, more mandates from... for example, you're on the education board in your local school district and you are required to fulfill mandates that will make education more expensive and not necessarily more effective. I think women are going to change their votes. We have seen a very interesting progression in the vote of women. A month-and-a-half ago, it was very pro Bush -- almost close to even, but pro Bush. And I think we're going to see it move back toward that center as we get closer to the election.

GWEN IFILL: Because?

REP. JENNIFER DUNN: Because Bush is better on the issues for women.

SEN. PATTY MURRAY: Yeah, I would disagree. Having been a former school board member and having local control, but knowing that you need a federal partner in that is something that Al Gore is very good on. And I think for women, they tend to say, "what are you going to do in my child's school?". And I think they're looking for very specifics. And I think that tends to favor Al Gore.

REP. JENNIFER DUNN: It doesn't if... If the leader of the nation can be a great leader like George W. Bush will be as President and can be an inspirer, he can put together those public-private partnerships in school districts, but there's no reason why when 7 percent of the dollars for education come from the federal level, over 50% of the mandates should. We have to get rid of that. George Bush wants to do that.

GWEN IFILL: There's another interesting number shows up in these polling and surveys, which is marital status. Single women are more likely to support Al Gore. Married women are more likely to support George W. Bush. What's that about?

KARLYN BOWMAN: Marriage gap is also a permanent feature of our politics. The gap is much larger than the gender gap and has been as long as we've been able to measure it. There's something about marriage tends to... It's tended to pull... married people have tended to be a little bit more Republican than single people, as you suggested. But there's even a gender gap within the married vote. Married women and married men feel differently about issues and candidates.

GWEN IFILL: Is there a way, Ruth Mandel, that a candidate can speak to that?

RUTH MANDEL: Well, I think that we talked about the segments of the women's vote. I think a very, very important segment of it is the senior citizen vote. And that tends to be heavily women -- many not married because many widows. And they vote in very large numbers at very high rates. So I think that that is going to be where some of the issue appeals come in, certainly for the Democrats on Medicare, on Social Security and so forth.

SEN. PATTY MURRAY: I don't think it's surprising that women in that circumstance support the Democratic candidate, in this case Al Gore, because they are so reliant on the federal government, whether it's Social Security or whatever tax policies are out there, their incomes tend to be much smaller.

REP. JENNIFER DUNN: And women retire for longer years on fewer dollars. As the bush campaign talks about, it's proposal to reform Social Security, they will say, we will keep our promise not to decrease benefits for the nation's seniors, but you married working women who are getting nothing out of Social Security, you pay taxes all those years on your Social Security, and then you get 50% of your husband's Social Security, shouldn't you have the right to invest a small portion through a responsible management company? I think you're going to see a great turning on issues toward George Bush as women learn more about him.

GWEN IFILL: Let's talk about the conventional wisdom for a moment because one of the pieces of conventional wisdom which we embrace is that abortion is a big issue with women, yet all... you've all talked for some time now about what the issues are that are driving women voters, and it hasn't come up once.

SEN. PATTY MURRAY: I think that does underlie women's vote, too. And it's not just the issue of choice, whether a woman personally thinks she may want this policy. It's whether or not she has a government who is going to make decisions for her and her family and that she's not free to make those decisions on her own. And I think that does play into the overall feeling about how they view a candidate.

RUTH MANDEL: In the list of issues so far in this campaign, it doesn't come up very high when you ask voters, well, what do you care about? What's very important, what's going to make a difference? Health care certainly does. All kinds of issues around health care. That's very important to women as well as education and some other issues. Where I think abortion will be very interesting to watch is among independent women and among Republican women who may not decide to vote for... pro-choice Republican women who may not decide to vote for Al Gore but could possibly decide not to vote. I think that's going to be an important group.

KARLYN BOWMAN: Looking at polls in the past, abortion is not an issue that has divided men and women. About 10% to 13% of the electorate say it's the most important issue in casting their vote. And, interestingly, that's been a Republican vote, not a Democratic vote --

REP. JENNIFER DUNN: What we've found -- in the survey research we've done we've found that there's about a 10% group on each end of that abortion policy spectrum who will vote just on that issue.

GWEN IFILL: But Patty Murray talked a moment ago about women's view of the role of government in their lives. Does that drive the way women vote, that government should not be in their lives or that government should?

SEN. PATTY MURRAY: I think women look at government needing to be there to support what they need and the opportunities they have there. But if they run into a government who says, "I'm not going to give you those kinds of choices," and that's what happens with the abortion issue, then I think, you know, that can change their vote.

REP. JENNIFER DUNN: What we've found in our survey -

GWEN IFILL: One second, Congresswoman. Just one moment.

KARLYN BOWMAN: Women do favor a slightly stronger role for government. I think that's one of the explanations for George Bush's strength in the spring and the summer. He talked about compassionate conservatism and said he was not going to close down the Department of Education and so I think he made enormous strides. Al Gore got the attention at the Democratic Convention, and I think from George Bush's perspective, he needs to get it back.

REP. JENNIFER DUNN: But look at the way that George Bush is presenting his tax proposals. I do believe that women want a greater safety net, support for people who can't help themselves and compassionate conservatism is about that. In George Bush's tax proposal, he shifts six million people off the tax rolls; a single woman who has two children and makes up to $ 30,000 a year is taken off the tax roles so she can begin to work her way up into a good, solid position.

GWEN IFILL: But congresswoman, one of the... the numbers we're citing that explain this big swing, gender swing, show the tax issue isn't particularly working with women.

REP. JENNIFER DUNN: Well, it is working with women. Women who are focusing on issues as we move closer to the campaign, as Senator Murray said, will begin to notice this. I'll tell you one thing, the victory of having both candidates appear on Oprah is going to be the opening salvo in women's interest. They're so busy balancing all kinds of things -- their interest in this campaign. As we talk about it, that 25-year-old woman who was on the Oprah show today, she's going to begin to understand, she's going to have way up because Bush's tax plan will make sure she keeps it.

GWEN IFILL: One last...

RUTH MANDEL: I think there are a set of care issues, and women are in a way not afraid to say, "I need help. I need help around some of these issues" -- whether it's elder care or child care or gun safety or whatever - and are more likely, historically, traditionally, to trust government, even if some of them don't and are skeptical, are more likely to trust government than they are the private sector, to be the ones to turn to for help.

GWEN IFILL: That is going to have to be the last word. That was a great conversation. Thank you all very much.

JIM LEHRER: Still to come on the NewsHour tonight, new schoolteachers and a view of down under.

SERIES - MAKING THE GRADE

JIM LEHRER: America's public schools just opened this school year amidst the biggest teacher shortage in history. The result has been stiff competition nationwide to attract teachers. Special education correspondent John Merrow begins a new series on a way New York City has addressed the problem.

TEACHER: Everything's overwhelming. I feel like I have a lot of standards to live up to.

TEACHER: I'm not nervous right now, but I'm sure tomorrow morning I'm going to be nervous.

TEACHER: What am I doing?

TEACHER: Well, it's exciting. There's a little nervousness also. I would say it's a combination of both. Tomorrow's the big day.

JOHN MERROW: Of course Dayna, Scott, Renee, and Jack were nervous on the day before school started; they're first-year teachers. But they have two more good reasons for being on edge: They've been assigned to teach in one of the worst public schools in New York City, and they've had only one month of training. Four years ago, the chancellor of the New York City school system identified the 52 worst schools and grouped them into one district. His idea was to staff them with the city's best teachers by offering salary bonuses. That strategy did not work. Not enough veteran teachers were willing to sign up. Plan "B" called for recruiting bright professionals looking for a career change, a challenge. 2,300 people applied, and 348 were chosen to be teaching fellows. (Applause)

HAROLD LEVY: I won't go through the numbers of people, but we have a judge, many journalists, many lawyers, a physician, an ophthalmologist, an acupuncturist, career changers, career starters, career restarters. You name it, we've got it, and what a wonderful, wonderful group.

JOHN MERROW: These new teachers will be paid the regular starting salary, $ 31,500. While they're teaching, they'll be working on their master's degrees. The school system is paying the tuition. The teaching fellows began their training on August 1 at three area universities, including Brooklyn College.

JACK NASTASI: My name is Jack Nastasi. I'm 22 years old. I was planning on going to Wall Street, maybe working for a firm, getting into stocks and bonds, or something. And a couple months ago I went to a graduation for one of my friends, and I just said, "you know, how great it would feel to stand in front and having all these kids speak about how their experiences was with their teachers." And I would love to be that teacher that someone talks about and says, "you know, this guy made a difference in my life." I think that would be like the greatest reward possible.

RENEE CASON: My name is Renee Cason, and I'm 22 years old. I was interested in teaching a little bit, back and forth. Education's my thing. You know, I really want to work with the kids. I have a lot to learn. There's a lot of experienced teachers who know a lot more than me, and I just have to be willing to embrace whatever criticism they have of me, and not take it internally, but use it.

SCOTT SMITH: My name is Scott Smith, and I'm 46 years old. I'm an associate broker. I am also a lawyer. And fresh out of law school, I did closings for a mortgage bank. I want the students to get something out of being there. I hope that they grow and learn, and I hope it's a growth experience for me too, in that I think that I will also learn from the students.

DAYNA GOLDBERG: My name is Dayna Goldberg, and I am 23 years old. Everybody in my family is a teacher, everybody. All of the women in my family are teachers, and I was dead set against being a teacher. But then my friend told me about this program. He signed up for it, and asked me to edit his cover letter. I did that. He said, "why don't you do it? You're perfect for teaching." The jobs I do like are always involving kids. So I was like, "hey, why not? I'll try it." So I stopped being stubborn, and I realized that teaching is for me and here I am.

JOHN MERROW: Before they could be assigned to classrooms, they had to pass two state exams. Over 90% of the fellows passed, including Jack, Renee, Scott, and Dayna. They were assigned to PSIS 25 in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. It's a K through 8 school with 750 students, and some of the lowest test scores in New York City. On September 6, the four were getting their rooms ready for the first day of classes.

DAYNA GOLDBERG: This is very exciting to me, putting up paper and putting up boards, and I can't wait to do my bulletin board. I have everything... I imagine where everything's going to be. But right now, it's just a mess. People think we're going to make a huge difference, and I hope we do. I really hope we do. But it's something to look up to.

SCOTT SMITH: I've heard from several teachers. They advised not smiling. Their concern is that you come across as an authority figure and that if you're too friendly and the students get the impression that you're their friend, then you'll be undermining your own authority. And I don't want that to happen.

TEACHER: I guess so, yeah. Well, no, no, no. Go over. Do it all the way at the end, and I'll double it up.

JOHN MERROW: Have you thought about what you're going to say first?

JACK NATASI: Good morning, students. My name is Jack Nastasi. You guys have to call me Mr. Nastasi. I'm 22 years old. I just graduated from college. I just decided I wanted to teach, and you got no reason to dislike me; I have no reason to dislike you, so let's start off on a good point.

RENEE CASON: I'm just going to be me. I mean, I can't listen to like ten million teachers telling me, "don't smile. Don't do this." I'm just going to be me. I'm just going to be who I am. You know, it's like trial and error. I'm going to try to be the best at it. Just because I like children and I have a good rapport with them doesn't mean that I'm going to be a great teacher.

JOHN MERROW: September 7, 2000, the first day of school in New York City. With barely one month of training under their belts, the four rookies went to meet their new students.

RENEE CASON: I don't see two people. You should be next to someone. How many do we have?

JACK NASTASI: This is your new home for the year. Go inside and select a desk. It's not going to be your final desk, but just sit down and hold tight. Good morning, everybody. Come on. You can say it a little louder than that. When I say, "good morning," to you guys, you say, "good morning." Back to me. All right? Good morning, everybody.

STUDENTS: Good morning.

JACK NASTASI: Don't be afraid to turn to the person next to you, who is sitting right next to you or the person sitting across from you and next to you, ask them what's going on, because you guys can learn from each other. I'm going to learn from you. You're not just learning from me.

JOHN MERROW: After a smooth start, Jack's day got progressively more difficult.

JACK NASTASI: (talking to students) I'm sorry. You got to say it louder. Octavia? Is that how you say it? Okay. That begins with an "a"? An "O." So think of a word that with an "o" that describes you. All right. You know what? This is flopping. I'm going to do... I'm going to change this up.

JACK NASTASI: I tried to do it with the adjectives, and I assumed that they knew adjectives better than that, but they really haven't done adjectives, so they were struggling to think of words up that were adjectives. So before I waited 45 minutes for me to figure out that it wasn't working, I ended it.

JACK NASTASI: (talking to students) Stop, stop, stop, stop. Stop, stop. I don't want to hear it. Everybody be quiet! Hands up. Hands up.

JACK NASTASI: I don't like yelling at little kids. I mean, maybe some people enjoy that. I don't. But it's got to be done, so...

DAYNA GOLDBERG: Welcome to second grade. Who's excited about second grade? I'm excited about second grade. If you want a short-cut name, if your name is Michael and you'd like to be called Mike, then just tell me, okay? Okay.

JOHN MERROW: Like Jack, Dayna used the name game, but with better results.

DAYNA GOLDBERG: Is this what a circle looks like? So I'm going to go first, and my name is Ms. Goldberg, and my favorite animal is a dog. Does anybody have a dog? What kind of dog?

STUDENT: It's a black one.

DAYNA GOLDBERG: A black dog. What's the black dog's name?

STUDENT: Sheba.

DAYNA GOLDBERG: Sheba. I have a dog whose name's Rowdy. He has one ear up and one ear down. He's funny looking.

DAYNA GOLDBERG: When they first came in, I was kind of, like, frazzled. I was like, "Okay, what am I going to do? And I kind of wrote myself a script, and I had to look at it. And I'm like, "okay, that's what I have to do next." And that was about the only time I kind of felt... When we first got in the room, I'm like, "oh, my God, here's my class, what do I do now?" But I think after that, everything went smoothly. But it's only 10:00. So I'll let you know later.

SCOTT SMITH: So you would like to go into criminal law? You know, just like in medicine, there are certain specialization areas. It's the same thing in law. There are certain...

JOHN MERROW: Unlike the other new teachers, Scott is team teaching. He managed to get his seventh grade social studies students engaged in discussion.

SCOTT SMITH: Yes? Montay.

STUDENT: I would like to be an architect when I grow up.

SCOTT SMITH: Terrific. Okay. What do you like about that?

STUDENT: I chose that because you can, like, design your own houses, like how you want an area to be.

SCOTT SMITH: You want to do something different?

STUDENT: Well, yeah, different from usual houses, something like that.

SCOTT SMITH: Right, right. Terrific. That's a great idea.

SCOTT SMITH: There were really some good things that happened. I mean, a lot of the students brought notebooks. They brought loose-leaf binders. They were prepared. They had pens or pencils. They had supplies. They were organized. And, I mean, I thought that part of it was great.

SCOTT SMITH: (talking to students) Yes? Yes?

STUDENT: I want to be a translator.

SCOTT SMITH: (talking to students) Translator. Wow.

SCOTT SMITH: I'm feeling okay. I'm still a little nervous. We're waiting for textbooks. We have some older textbooks that we can use for now that we found, but my co-teacher and I need to sit down and do more preparation.

RENEE CASON: Excuse me, you are not in line. Can you please get in line? Thank you.

JOHN MERROW: Most of Renee's fourth graders are boys. A few of them proved to be difficult to control.

RENEE CASON: Two lines. You seem to be lost, like you're not with us here. Two lines. This way. You should be facing that way. Good morning.

STUDENTS: Good morning.

RENEE CASON: My name is Miss Cason.

JOHN MERROW: Most of her morning was taken up with instructing the students on how to write their names and addresses, as well as frequent disciplining.

RENEE CASON: You see like this? I want you to put your name across. I cannot hear anything while I'll working with someone else. It's just like I had to go over these rules, and it was really surprising to see that they didn't know how to spell their own address.

RENEE CASON: (talking to students) Put your finished card to the left of your desk. So it should go to the left.

JOHN MERROW: Renee's class became more and more restless as the day went on.

RENEE CASON: There is no talking right now. There is no talking right now. There is no talking right now.

JOHN MERROW: At the end of their first day, the teaching fellows compared experiences.

RENEE CASON: I have like this one little boy. That's why I know his name so well, because he just tries my nerves. And this other teacher was saying that he just... He just will try you, and he just won't listen.

JACK NASTASI: I'm like, I thought I lost them for a minute, so lunchtime. It was just like a bad point. And at that point I was like I had it up to here. I was sick of yelling at them. I didn't want to yell at them anymore.

SCOTT SMITH: There was one student who kept leaning back in his chair, and I kept asking him not to do it, and he continued doing it anyway. But then later in the day, I kind of took him aside and spoke with him individually, and I think that it had an effect. And I think actually that private conversation turned into one of the best moments of the day.

DAYNA GOLDBERG: The best thing I did today was probably journal writing about themselves. They love talking about themselves. I told them... I asked them all these questions, like what's your favorite music, what's your favorite food.

RENEE CASON: I just think, like, when I was giving out the points, they were really happy. And then when I was picking them up from lunch, this girl was all happy to see me. It was cool.

DAYNA GOLDBERG: I'm just mental and physically drained from the last two months. Between the fellowship and all that, you know, rigorous training, and 12-hour days, to this. It's like, when's Thanksgiving?

JOHN MERROW: The next morning all four arrived early, ready for the challenges ahead.

JIM LEHRER: Correspondent John Merrow will return periodically to New York public school number 25 during this school year, and will update us on the progress of these four new teachers.

FINALLY- LIGHT ON DOWN UNDER

JIM LEHRER: Finally tonight, the spotlight down under, and to Terence Smith.

TERENCE SMITH: For Americans, Australia has long been the land of kangaroos, convicts, and crocodile Dundee. Now, of course, it's in the limelight as the land of the summer Olympics. Two writers join us from Sydney to share their vision of life and the people down under. Australian Thomas Keneally is a novelist, a non-fiction writer best-known for "Schindler's List," which won the Booker prize and was made into the academy award-winning movie. His recent books include "The Great Shame" and "The Triumph of the Irish in the English-Speaking World" and the novel "Confederates." American Bill Bryson's latest book is "In A Sunburned Country," an account of his travels through Australia. His earlier books include "A Walk in the Woods" and "Notes From a Small Island." He's down under again covering the Olympics for newspapers in Australia and abroad.

Mr. Keneally, can you tell me, when Americans think of this popular image of Australia and Australians, just how wrong are they?

THOMAS KENEALLY, Author/Novelist: Well, I think you tend to think of us as an outback people, and a people of the bush, and, in fact, we're one of the most urbanized countries on earth. But then we're to blame for that projection, because even in the opening ceremony of the Olympics, we projected images of the bush, of the stockman, the cowboy, the whip, the sheepdog, the corrugated iron farmhouse. All the images of the bush came into play in the opening ceremony. So we have only ourselves to blame. I think also you think of us as pretty much a British dominion, and generally the cosmopolitan nature of our cities is something of a surprise to Americans.

BILL BRYSON, Author, "In a Sunburned Country:" One of the things that's always appealed to me so much about Australia is that it seems to me that it's just this very attractive kind of fusion of both British and American influences, that it's a place that physically, the cities look very, very much like American places, with skyscrapers. They're modern and so on. But at the same time, the sort of bedrock of the culture here is very British in its orientation -- you know, that they drive on the left, that they drink tea, and they have boxing day, and play cricket, and so on. And to me as an outsider, particularly as an outsider who lived for 20 years in England but grew up in America, it just feels like a really comfortable place.

THOMAS KENEALLY: I'm always astonished that right here, within yards of where Bill and I are standing, the penal colony, brought about by the fact that George Washington would no longer take British convicts, the penal colony actually began. We're standing in a highly suburban city, which began as a penal camp. And as an Australian, I'm fascinated by that transformation. Why did it work? It worked because of the environment, I think. But we are the only major city to have such piquant origins.

TERENCE SMITH: Right. Bill Bryson, I'm curious also about the people, the personality. I'll go out on a limb here and assume they're not all the beer-swilling, crocodile- wrestling, macho types that we tend to put in films.

BILL BRYSON: Oh, no, they are. Only joking. Of course, they're not at all...

THOMAS KENEALLY: I'm one of them

BILL BRYSON: ...They're not at all. Happily, Australians, many Australians do like to drink, which is part of what appeals to me in this country. And they certainly... they have a very enthusiastic lifestyle. It reminds me very much of Italians in that sense. You know, they're very gregarious and outgoing. They like to go out and party and have a good time. I think that's a very important component of Australian life. But, as Tom says, it's also, you know, a very serious and modern and prosperous, constructive society, as well.

TERENCE SMITH: And, in fact, Bill Bryson, you've suggested that it's a society that has got some things right.

BILL BRYSON: I've always thought one of the most amazing things about this country is that... it's extremely hostile environment. Australia is... is a landscape that once you're there, once you move into the interior of this country, there is no harsher environment in the inhabited world. And you started this country with convicts, people who were sent over here involuntarily. And from that, from this extremely inauspicious beginning, they created this country that is safe and orderly and well run, very, very prosperous, very agreeable -- a lot better run in many ways, I have to say, than our own country. I mean, in terms of providing universal health care and good-quality education for all, and that sort of thing, public transport systems and so on, they do it really well. So it's true what you say. This is a country that has got most things right.

THOMAS KENEALLY: I think that immigrants who came to Australia, like my grandparents, for example, made such a journey from which they could not return, so they had an expectation that things had to work here, that there had to be a dividend to making this tremendous passage through to the other side of the looking glass, through to the upside-down seasons, the upside-down animals, and the upside-down time of Australia-- when it's night in the northern world, it's daytime here-- and therefore there's a high kind of proletarian explanation of such services as transportation, communication, education, health, and that's still there. The government's trying to erode it. The government has caught Reaganomics in a big way, but it's hard to erode those expectations in the average Australian, I think, Bill.

TERENCE SMITH: All right. Thomas Keneally, one thing that all of us noticed in the opening ceremonies of the Olympics was the presence not only of Kathy Freeman, but of some 1,100 aborigines in the ceremonies. Is this a time, in your opinion, of reconciliation in Australia?

THOMAS KENEALLY: Yes. I think that SOCOG, the organizing committee of the Olympic games were making the gesture that they could in the direction of reconciliation with aboriginals. But, of course, the federal government itself seems niggardly in its approach to this issue. There has never been a treaty, even the kind of schlocky treaties that you guys made with your indigenous. There's never been a treaty between us and them. The principle on which Australia was occupied, was that Australia was terranoius, land belonging to no one. Now we've had two high court decisions that said... that say there was always native title in Australia, and we're adjusting to that. We're adjusting to it in some ways creatively, but at the level of the federal government, I think we're adjusting to it very unimaginatively and in a very niggardly manner. So it will take more than the divine Kathy, as great as she is and as great an athlete, to bring about reconciliation.

TERENCE SMITH: Bill Bryson, I know from your writing that you are an unabashed fan of Australia, and yet you know it well enough now perhaps to know its problems. What are its biggest problems?

BILL BRYSON: Well, the one that Thomas is talking about is, I think, the biggest, certainly the biggest social issue, the question of integrating aboriginal people into mainstream society, if indeed that's what they want. And, you know, I don't think anybody argues with that. If you look at any of the... any measure of human well-being, the indigenous people in Australia always come out on the bottom, in terms of the proportion of people who are in prison, drug abuse, and alcoholism and infant mortality, everything. The aborigines are always on the bottom. Clearly this is something that really, really has to be dealt with. The only other thing that seems to be a great preoccupation at the moment is the health of the Australian dollar - which -- and I'm no economist. I can't offer any kind of suggestions on that, but it certainly seems to be preoccupying an awful lot of people.

THOMAS KENEALLY: I think, Bill, we behaved as receptors for a long time of sophisticated goods, including culture, from distant places, that arrived by ships. And to an extent, Australians have tended, on the basis of their enormous resources, to be a cargo culture, to send resources off, and to buy them back in more sophisticated forms. And the question that preoccupies Australians now is, what sort of economy will we become if we remain a mere shipper out of resources, and not an inventor? In the last week we had an economist saying, a small country like Finland has this huge corporation Nokia. Australia doesn't have an equivalent industry, and that worries me as an Australian. I don't know whether we will become, as one politician said, the Portugal of the south seas. You know, will my grandchildren be cyber scientists, or will they be waiters? That's been the big question.

TERENCE SMITH: All right. Well, listen, thank you. Thomas Keneally, Bill Bryson, thank you so much for explaining a little something about Australia.

BILL BRYSON: Thank you.

TERENCE SMITH: Thank you.

THOMAS KENEALLY: Thank you.

RECAP

JIM LEHRER: Again, the major stories of this Tuesday. The Senate approved permanent normal trade rations with China. And a Cuban plane was apparently hijacked and went down in international waters off Key West, Florida. One person was killed, nine others were rescued. We'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening. I'm Jim Lehrer. Thank you, and good night.