Arne Duncan

Absolutely. It is a fantastic program. We are asking for a budget increase there.

We are very intentionally targeting in these competitions those areas of the greatest need, not of the greatest grant writers, not of the greatest wealth.

We don't need just longer years. We need longer days. We need longer weeks.

The bad news is that we still have unacceptable opportunity gaps in America.

Our international competitors are not making the mistake of disinvesting in education.

You and I know that by virtually every measure, sadly, Mississippi ranks near the bottom nationally--you know, 48th, 49th, 50th on many, many measures, and I just do not think that is fair to your children or to your State or to your…

To be very clear, where for-profits institutions are helping to prepare people for real jobs that have good wages and help move them up the economic ladder, we want to see them grow, we want to see them thrive, we want to see them prosper…

To say you have to spend money in this way, that prices are fixed, just simply didn't make sense.

We have one common enemy and that is academic failure.

I wanted to be held accountable for results, but I wanted the flexibility to spend that money as I saw fit.

Let me be really clear: what many states on a voluntary basis have done, including your state, is raise standards.

What is more important to me is what is actually happening to real students.