Sam Gibbons: “What is the secret to getting a great education? Brandnew classrooms, the latest computers, a teaching staff trained in…”

“What is the secret to getting a great education? Brandnew classrooms, the latest computers, a teaching staff trained in the latest pedagogical methods, record spending on school budgets? Of course not. Common sense alone suggests that a great education is a product of the same ingredients that has made for a great education for centuries: motivated students, parents who care about their children's schooling, and teachers with energy and dedication. What Federal program conceived in Washington, DC, can produce motivated students? What Federal program can make parents care about their children's schooling? What Federal program can produce teachers with energy and dedication? Mr. Speaker, this is truly puzzling for me, that so many people with Ph.D.'s right here in this community in education and journalists with equally impressive credentials tend to forget these commonsense facts so often when it comes to education. It is time to get back to basics. It is time that Washington encouraged them to do it now, and not tomorrow.”