No Child Left Behind's fourth-grade gains aren't learning gains, they're testing gains. That's why they don't last. The law is a distraction from things that really count.

President Obama's first term in office has been better for intentions than for actual changes in planning and policy. I do believe, and he has several things to this effect, that he would like to provide universal preschool or at least far more preschool for our children.

The fact that a crime might have been committed with impunity in the past may make it seem more familiar and less gruesome, but surely does not give it any greater legitimacy.

Schooling should not be left to the whim or wealth of village elders. I believe that we should fund all schools in the U.S. with our national resources. All these kids are being educated to be Americans, not citizens of Minneapolis or San Francisco.

I became convinced that there was greater satisfaction from giving my money away and seeing something come out of the ground, like a hospital or a university.

The key thing about wealth in a capitalist economy is that it reproduces itself and usually earns a positive net return.

As with products on supermarket shelves, the public has a right to know where their financial products and services come from.

I don't really like politics, to be honest. But it's other people making decisions about my life and my country and my child's education... I wish we didn't have so much money in politics, but that's not the world we live in. If we don't play here, we forfeit. And I'm not willing to forfeit my rights.