The opponents of my budget propose taking $200 million out of our classrooms and instead spending it on a larger school employee pay raise. Our focus should be on making sure our children come first.

The success of our economy shouldn't determine the success of our schools

Drugs are the enemies of ambition and hope - and when we fight against drugs we are fighting for the future.

The amount of money we spend on education is important, but not nearly as important as how the money is spent.

Government does not create jobs. It only helps create the conditions that make jobs more or less likely.

Change makes us confront the great unknown. It introduces different things into our lives. Different places. Different ideas. Different people. It's all hard to accept at times, and change can often be a little scary. But if there's one fact that I've learned from raising a family, from running several businesses, from serving in Congress and now as Governor, it's that nothing has ever grown without changing.

Tolerating evil leads only to more evil. And when good people stand by and do nothing while wickedness reigns, their communities will be consumed.