Arne Duncan

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. ”

State governments generate less revenue in a recession. As state leaders struggle to make up for lost revenue, legislatures tend to cut funding for higher education. Colleges, in turn, answer these funding cuts with tuition hikes. ”

To encourage more top-caliber students to choose teaching, teachers should be paid a lot more, with starting salaries more in the range of $60,000 and potential earnings of as much as $150,000. ”

Money is not the reason that people enter teaching. ”

Teachers say their schools of education did not adequately prepare them for the classroom. They would have welcomed more mentoring and feedback in their early years. ”

States should not balance their budgets on the backs of students. ”

I think every student needs access to technology, and I think technology can be a hugely important vehicle to help level the playing field. ”

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

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