The ladder was there, from the gutter to the university, and for those stalwart enough to ascend it, the schools were a boon and a path out of poverty.

The foundations demand that public schools and teachers be held accountable for performance, but they themselves are accountable to no one. If their plans fail, no sanctions are levied against them. They are bastions of unaccountability.

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

Most people believe that schools were good enough when they were children and that they are good enough now. But the dynamic growth of our system of education has spawned serious problems of educational quality.

Privatizing our public schools makes as much sense as privatizing the fire department or or the police department

Sometimes the most brilliant and intelligent minds do not shine in standardized tests because they do not have standardized minds.

American education has been littered with failed fads and foolish ideas for the past century.