I think it'd be useful for parents to know kind of what is the culture of an institution.

I mean, one thing I know about change is we are not going to close the achievement gap without educators.

I do think we know that a teacher who knows what he or she is doing, knows their subject matter, and knows how to impart knowledge to kids is a critical piece of closing the achievement gap.

Higher education is confronting challenges, like the economy is, about the need for a higher number of more adequately trained, more highly educated citizenry.

Don't let anyone else take the measure of your worth and capabilities. Always stand proud in who you are!

In Connecticut, my understanding, although I haven't seen the actual litigation, is that they want to measure every other year and not provide annual assessment as is required in the statute.

And I think that we in America need to understand that many schools need improvement, and particularly with respect to how they're serving minority children.

My understanding is that Kansas, Massachusetts, they've been more pioneers on the special education side.

We at the Department of Education are going to provide technical assistance; I've committed $14 million to show states how they might meet this more sophisticated approach.

It's a hard process to navigate... to figure out where your kid ought to go to college.

If all you ever do is all you've ever done, then all you'll ever get is all you've ever got.

No man who worships education has got the best out of education... Without a gentle contempt for education no man's education is complete.

The more grateful you are, the more your life overflow with abundance.

Sitting outside on a dark night, under the stars, invites confidences amongst people of all ages, and all walks of life. It invokes an intimacy you don’t find under most other circumstances.

The light was cut to lace by the trees that had grown so thick with leaves in the last few months.

What does it take for Republicans to take off the flag pin and say, 'I am just too embarrassed to be on this team'?

I'm very organised these days, and I keep my life in my handbag, like most women.

He who preserves a man's life against his will does the same thing as if he slew him.

Arnold Bennett was a writer I admired. He was actually taking notes at his father's deathbed.

Love is a fine cushion to rest upon, but only hate can make you a better person.

If my life was a play, age 35 was my intermission.