Secretary of Education John King made his Netflix debut Wednesday as the first person to be interviewed on Chelsea Handler’s new talk show, “Chelsea.”
King’s interview covered topics like his parents’ background as teachers and a teacher King says saved his life.
“School saved my life,” King said, since both his parents passed away before he was 13. “School’s the reason I’m alive today. … I couldn’t be a kid outside of school, but in school I had teachers who made it an interesting, engaging, compelling place to be and that helped me survive that period of my life.”
King praised Mr. Osterweil, one of his favorite teachers. “His class was so interesting and engaging that I was able to sort of put aside the things that were going on outside of class,” King said. “It would have been easy to look at me and say, ‘Here’s an African-American, Latino, male kid in a family in crisis. What chance does he have?’ But he didn’t do that, he invested in me, and made school a path to opportunity.”
King also told a story where his father, who had broken his arm, was told regulations prohibited him from teaching with a cast on. “He slammed the cast down, brushed the pieces into a trash can, put his hand in his suit pocket, and went and taught his class. When I was a kid, he would tell this story as way to remind us about the urgency of education.”
Most of the show’s debut episode focused on education. “I believe we should never stop learning,” Handler said. “I’m ready to learn more … I’m treating this show like the college education I never got and Netflix is giving me a full ride.”
Pitbull, a rapper who supports a Miami charter school, also appeared on the show to talk about education. “Education is so big to me because when you grab a mind when it’s young you can mold it and teach it how to believe in itself, to teach it how to think outside the box,” Pitbull said.
Actress Drew Barrymore also appeared on the show to discuss learning. “I’m not afraid to look stupid because those moments really freak you out and propel you and compel you to learn,” Barrymore said. “I think a lot of it is what you’re personally interested in, which school is different: it’s kind of forcing this particular knowledge on you that’s such an important skill set. But when you’re forced and left to your own devices, like I was really into the dictionary, that was like hot to me.”
Watch the full episode here (Netflix subscription required).
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
