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Language is the vehicle of education and the transmission of culture. Teachers especially need to value their native language and its literature. It is not enough to be a math teacher or P.E. teacher. All teachers must be English teachers.

As the number of school children diagnosed with special needs soars, many schools face bankruptcy in their attempts to meet federal mandates to serve this demographic. Like other areas of public education, special education is in serious need of reform.

The new Common Core Standards promise much, but as long as teacher training and school structure remain the same, they’re simply new wine in old bottles.

U.S. schools K-12 succeed in educating only about 40% of the nation's children. The only meaningful school reform would purge both schools and teachers' colleges of the "whole word" theory of reading instruction that dooms 60% of our children to semi-literacy.

The present system of placing everything from curriculum to lunchroom management under one supervisor is outdated and inefficient. The job of “principal” is too big for one person.

Supporters of school vouchers and charter schools claim they have the interest of all children at heart, but funneling tax money away from the public schools can only lead to the destruction of an adequate education for the majority of American children.

Same-sex classrooms were long the norm. U.S. public education adopted the coeducational model at the end of the 19th century. Thanks to changes in American culture, it's probably time to return to the single-sex model, at least from grades 7-12.

Parents of young children do not have the luxury of waiting for professional educators to agree on what to do about reading failure. They need to use the time from birth to age five to prepare their children for reading success.

Public education is like public transportation. Passengers have to go where the bus goes. Travelers who want to go where the bus doesn’t go must make other arrangements.