I teach child development and social policy as an undergraduate course, and I tell my students, "Look, on any of these issues, if you don't want to work on it for thirty years, don't start."

So there's much more to life than one's intelligence score. To be a decent human being. To have some character.

I know all the problems of the schools. They're rigid, they're bureaucratic, they've got a lot of problems. But it's such an important institution, and holds such promise.

I don't think anything good is happening. I think we're paying the price for it. I think while crime in general is going down, youth crime is going up. I think mental health problems of the youth are going up. You can't show causality. It's a hard stretch.

Kids do better, frankly [when the economy is strong]. Jobs make great years for kids.

I guess if you're doing God's work, whatever you do is in His name.

I study children, and they're my subjects in my studies. They're my colleagues, really, all these little kids. And I owe them.