Wendy Kopp

People are everything in education, just as in the corporate world.

I've heard a number of our alumni - people who are running schools and school systems - think a lot about different models for the teaching profession.

It's possible to train great people, but a person with great training who doesn't have certain characteristics is only going to go so far.

Every time a child's promise is cut short by their legal status, our country wastes precious resources and loses talent we need.

All around the world, we send our top talent into finance, technology, medicine and law - everywhere but towards expanding opportunity for our most marginalized children.

It's time to declare a cease-fire in the education arms race. We have far more to gain from collaborating to solve our common problems than competing for higher rankings.

Education must be the only sector that hasn't already been completely revolutionized by technology.

All over the world, children facing the challenges of poverty attend schools that aren't designed to meet their extra needs; across country lines, the lives of marginalized kids look far more similar than they do different.

Cultivating more leaders who reflect our heterogeneous society depends on universities' transparent use of race as one of many factors in an admissions process that is accessible to all.

Teach for America recruits top recent college grads, young professionals, people we believe are the U.S.'s most promising future leaders, and asks them to commit two years to teach in high-need urban and rural communities.

Few things are more important to our country's future than recruiting and keeping great teachers in our schools.

It's Teach For America's responsibility to ensure that all alumni know their voices are heard and valued, and to surface the range of opinion they represent.