If charter schools are not more successful on average than the public schools they replace, what is accomplished by demolishing public education? What is the rationale for authorizing for-profit charters or charter management organizations with high-paid executives, since their profits and high salaries are paid by taxpayers' dollars?

Congress and state legislatures should not tell teachers how to teach, any more than they should tell surgeons how to perform operations.

An attack on public education is an attack on democracy.

Going to school is not the same as going shopping. Parents should not be burdened with locating a suitable school for their child. They should be able to take their child to the neighborhood public school as a matter of course and expect that it has well-educated teachers and a sound educational program.

Can teachers successfully educate children to think for themselves if teachers are not treated as professionals who think for themselves?

What is happening to teachers now across this nation is a disgrace. The attacks on them are a blot on our nation. Teachers and students are not different interest groups. Anyone who demeans teachers demeans education and hurts children.

Without knowledge and understanding, one tends to become a passive spectator rather than an active participant in the great decisions of our time.