Donna Shalala

I have long ties to the women's community. ”

We know the parental support, community support, makes a difference. It's not just the metrics of testing and putting pressure on the schools and on the teachers. ”

In every community, whether large or small, there are people who lead in their community in easy and difficult times. ”

I think anyone that thought that we were coming in as a bunch of liberal Democrats to deliver more large-scale social programs was nuts. I sure didn't expect it. ”

I think President Bush tried to step up on Social Security even though the polls showed that was unpopular. He has not been successful and backed off, but I admire people who take on big problems. ”

We can't afford as a nation - not because of money but because of our social fabric - to have large numbers of people who are not working. ”

In fairy tales, the children are saved by caring adults. We need more caring adults in the lives of our children. ”

We need to drive down requirements for the schools. In the 19th century, we increased the quality of the schools by higher education saying, 'You can't come in unless you have these skills, unless you've taken these courses.' We did that in Wisconsin when I was there, it helped to transform the secondary school system. ”

Higher education is one of few areas where this country competes with the rest of the world and wins. The best of American higher education outstrips any in the world. Look where the rest of the world goes for higher education, for graduate degrees. They come here. ”

You can't have a university without having free speech, even though at times it makes us terribly uncomfortable. If students are not going to hear controversial ideas on college campuses, they're not going to hear them in America. I believe it's part of their education. ”