When I ask teachers why they teach, they almost always say that it is because they want to make a difference in the lives of children.

The jobs of the future, as you know so well, are knowledge-based. You need college-educated folks to do this work. And so the consequences for our country are absolutely devastating if we don't start to behave in very different ways.

Schools and districts and unions are working together on some really innovative things.

Money is not the reason that people enter teaching.

We've seen more reform in the last year than we've seen in decades, and we haven't spent a dime yet. It's staggering how the Recovery Act is driving change.

I think the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans was Hurricane Katrina.

Other countries haves passed us by. They're outworking us. They're outcompeting us. We have got to wake up and we have got to start moving.