- “Last week, Education Secretary Arne Duncan declared a war on paper textbooks. ‘Over the next few years,’ he said in a speech at the National Press Club, ‘textbooks should be obsolete.’ In their place would come a variety of digital-learning technologies, like e-readers and multimedia websites. Such technologies certainly have their place. But Secretary Duncan is threatening to light a bonfire to a tried-and-true technology–good old paper–that has been the foundation of one of the great education systems on the planet. And while e-readers and multimedia may seem appealing, the idea of replacing an effective learning platform with a widely hyped but still unproven one is extremely dangerous.” ~ Justin B. Hollander, Tufts University
- “The question isn’t: Do we need more charter schools, traditional schools, gifted schools or magnet schools. We need better public schools. Kids don’t know what kind of school they go to. All they ask is, ‘Do I have a good teacher?'” ~ Arne Duncan, U.S. Education Secretary
- “Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire.” ~ William Butler Yeats
- “A helicopter parent will tell you it’s about protecting the kid, but it’s really about protecting the parent from the harrowing business of letting go.” ~ Carolyn Hax, Washington Post
- “When you think about the word character, we often think of something that is not at all changeable–it’s just like what you’re born with. But these strengths are things that are absolutely changeable. Individuals can change them themselves. Teachers and parents can have a huge impact on how they’re developed.” ~ Paul Tough, author, How Children Succeed
