Other countries have outeducated us. They have made this a priority. And a big part of what I'm trying to do, frankly, is raise the profile of education and get America to wake up.

I think the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans was Hurricane Katrina.

Even in a time of fiscal austerity, education is more than just an expense.

Borrowing to pay for college used to be the exception; now it's the rule.

Wherever you find something extraordinary, you’ll find the fingerprints of a great teacher.

In America, your zip code or your socioeconomic status should never determine the quality of your education.

We've seen more reform in the last year than we've seen in decades, and we haven't spent a dime yet. It's staggering how the Recovery Act is driving change.

Teachers support evaluations based on multiple measures: student growth, classroom observation and feedback from peers and parents.

To be clear, we the Department of Education want curriculum to be driven by the local level. We are by law prohibited from directing curriculum. We don't have a curriculum department.

The arts significantly boost student achievement, reduce discipline problems, and increase the odds students will go on to graduate from college.

Education is the civil rights issue of our generation.

I sometimes sit on my roof. Not to be closer to god. To be further from y'all.

Any outward acts of worship in a church service must begin in the heart. Right worship starts with right thinking.

When you are speaking to someone else you are really speaking only to yourself.

I mean, look, I love movies, not just the ones I make... In fact, I don't like the movies I make very much.

In our particular society, it is the narrowed and narrowing view of life that often wins.

Good ideas are a dime a dozen, bad ones are free.

Think what you like. There are people who die by remaining alive and others who gain life by dying.

The meanest life is better than the most glorious death.

Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place.

I have really been blessed in my career with some wonderful songwriters and in turn, songs.