An extended school day gives administrators the ability to ensure children get a well-rounded education.

Middle-class families know education begins at birth.

Boys want to grow up to be like their male role models. And boys who grow up in homes with absent fathers search the hardest to figure out what it means to be male.

Over the past five years, I've met several presidents, several secretaries of education ... and there is no plan. If you want to save your children, you're going to have to do it yourself. It's just us.

Build an organization that can tackle the tough things and keep moving.

Osama Bin Laden is not going to come here and destroy America. Our education system is doing that just fine.

When you see a great teacher, you are seeing a work of art.