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As somebody who visits countless schools, I see firsthand the dire situation our educational system faces.

Schools exist in America and have always existed to train responsible citizens of the United States of America. If they don't do that, it's very hard to hold us together as a country, because it's shared values that hold us together.

School reform is not enough. The notion of schooling itself must be challenged.

Well, we have to provide the world's best schools. We certainly don't have them, but that's our objective.

Well I've been crystal clear that we should not have schools which are set up by extremists whether they're Christian fundamentalists, Islamic fundamentalists or any other sort of outrageous and beyond the pale organization.

All over the world, children facing the challenges of poverty attend schools that aren't designed to meet their extra needs; across country lines, the lives of marginalized kids look far more similar than they do different.

It's hard work to ensure that all schools are safe and welcoming places for all children. It means changing policies, practices and cultures; providing school support personnel; and funding programs like restorative justice - not simply resorting to excessive and often discriminatory discipline.

Nor, in our own country, must we fail to take notice of the establishment of School Boards.

We cannot ignore the disparity in resources that continue to plague many of our school systems, especially those serving predominantly inner-city minority and impoverished children.

So many of the schools are just politically correct mirrors of each other. If you go to this school versus that school, you're just going to get a different version of the same political correctness and liberal indoctrination.