Mr. Hirsch talked about his book, The Schools We Need: And Why We Don’t Have Them. Mr. Hirsch talked about the need for education focused on a core knowledge program in which all students learn the same material on the same topics in the same level. He talked about the prescriptions for education laid out by Thomas Jefferson and said that Jefferson was not heeded in his own time and is not today. Mr. Hirsch argued that ineffective early schooling is the most important detriment to high achievment in school. Following his prepared remarks, he took questions from the audience.