Money Is Not The Reason That People

I'm Just Absolutely Convinced We Have To Educate Our Way To A Better Economy. That's The Only Way We're Going To Get There. This Is The Best Long-term Investment We Can Make. And So I Think It's My Job To Be The Truth-teller.

We Need To Lengthen The School Day. We Need To Lengthen The School Year. Our Calendar Is Based Upon The Agrarian Economy. Children In India And China Are Going To School 25, 30, 35 More Days A Year. They're Just Working Harder Than Us. So, We Need More Time, Particularly For Disadvantaged Children, Who Aren't Getting Those Supports At Home.

Most Teachers Still Say They Love Teaching Though They Wouldn't Mind A Little More Respect For Their Challenging Work And A Little Less Blame For America's Educational Shortcomings.

When Schools Truly Become Centers Of The Community, Where You Have Extraordinary Teachers, The Best Teachers, The Best Principals, Great Nonprofit Partners Coming In During The Non-school Hours To Support And Do Enrichment Activities, Social Services, Then Those Students Will Beat The Odds, Will Beat Poverty, Will Beat Violence In The Community, Will Beat Sometimes Dysfunctional Families, And Be Productive Citizens Long Term. They Will Go To College.

We All Have A Role To Play - The President, Congress, Parents, Students And Schools - In Making College Affordable And Keeping The Middle Class Dream Alive.