My beloved New York Giants seem like a different team than they were just a month ago, when they were coming off a humbling string of losses. If the Giants' owners had simply demanded a new lineup, or the coaching staff had told the players to figure it out on...

In America, a great public education is our primary opportunity agent for a better future. Yet as our economic struggles have reminded us, educational opportunity and economic prospects are inextricably linked, and in McDowell County, W.Va., as in many rural communities, the opportunities are exceedingly limited.

McDowell County, located...

"As Ohio goes, so goes the nation" has taken on new meaning after this week's election. The people of Ohio used their citizen veto decisively to repeal legislation that would have stripped police officers, teachers, firefighters and other public workers of their right to bargain collectively.

It...

Here's what you'll find in too many public schools in America today: "Classrooms" fashioned out of storage rooms, school cafeterias and stages because of school overcrowding. Extreme temperatures in classrooms that require students and staff to wear coats indoors in the winter and to swelter in dangerous heat in warmer...

America was founded, and has flourished, as a land of opportunity -- a place where, by working hard and seizing opportunities, each generation can do better than the last. But this very American notion seems frayed, as the effects of economic recession have taken a terrible toll on our kids...

As we have just marked the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, much has been written and spoken about the day and its effects, short- and long-term.

I've spoken with many people about how the terror of that day played out in our public schools. New...

In this day and age, attacking educators seems to be the norm, but I took notice last week when a blogger attacked me for a badly worded presentation concerning a Connecticut law designed to empower parents to improve their children's schools. He had a point. The presentation, given at an...

This post was co-written by Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

"The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers and principals, since student learning is ultimately...

One week before we celebrated Fourth of July to commemorate our freedom and independence, I traveled to Cairo, Egypt, to meet with teachers union leaders from Arab Spring countries, who are struggling to win their own revolutions for freedom and independence. As I listened to the stories of these brave...

For all the efforts to improve education that are made in classrooms, school board meetings, research institutions, congressional chambers and elsewhere, one factor has in many ways eclipsed them all: an intense focus on standardized testing. High-stakes tests -- flaws and all -- seem to be driving everything from what...

It was Franklin D. Roosevelt who said taxes are the dues we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society. Although nobody likes paying taxes, my hunch is the vast majority of Americans agree. Every April, they file their returns and then go about their business. They may...

I was encouraged to see Joel Klein's recent opinion piece ("What the School Reform Debate Misses About Teachers," Sunday, March 13, 2011) in the Washington Post.

While he ignored the proposals the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has advanced in the last 14 months (A Continuous...

Over the last three weeks, Gov. Scott Walker and his allies in the Wisconsin Legislature made a mockery of representative government. Rather than listen to the citizens of Wisconsin, who are strongly opposed to stripping teachers, nurses and other workers of their rights, Walker rammed through a bill that was...

I recently had the terrifying experience of being a guest on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report." I put stage fright aside because Stephen Colbert, one of the sharpest wits in comedy, was dealing with a serious issue -- attempts in Wisconsin, Ohio and elsewhere to strip public workers...

The events in Wisconsin over the last few days have captured the attention of the American people. The images are inspiring, as tens of thousands of workers stand up to be heard. But while the peaceful protests were taking place in Wisconsin, another event was happening in Denver that didn't...

Tension and conflict make good stories. That's why Hollywood's latest crop of movies includes tales of good against evil (Season of the Witch), revenge (True Grit), overcoming inner demons (The King's Speech, Country Strong), and triumphing against all odds (The Fighter).

Conflict also makes good newspaper copy and must-watch TV...

One of the great frustrations with America's public education system is that our success stories are rarely scaled up so that more students can benefit. To our children's detriment, decision-makers are more likely to chase fads, shift course or choose "reforms" lacking evidence of effectiveness than they are to adopt...

Last week in the Washington Post, a group of school superintendents -- two of whom, Chicago Public Schools chief executive Ron Huberman and D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, have just announced their resignations -- laid out a "manifesto" for fixing America's schools. Although lofty in its stated aim...

Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future." This couldn't be any truer today. Every child in America deserves a great education, not by chance but by right. In the District of Columbia and throughout the...

Tough times affect everyone, but inevitably children and the neediest are hit the hardest. While state coffers are shrinking, the number of children enrolled for the coming school year is not -- and neither is the extent of their educational needs. It is our nation's obligation to ensure that all...