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Teachers are our greatest public servants; they spend their lives educating our young people and shaping our Nation for tomorrow.

In America our public schools are intended to be religiously neutral. Our teachers and schools are neither to endorse nor to inhibit religion. I believe this is a very good thing.

I believe with all my heart that the American classroom teachers are one of our greatest and most heroic treasures.

I think the real heroic teachers are the ones who work with kids, like my mom and my sister do.

Now, we believe that the majority of teachers in America know our system must be reformed, to put students first so that America can compete, that teachers don't teach to become rich or famous. They teach because they love children.

If you have to put someone on a pedestal, put teachers. They are society's heroes.

I've worked in public education for 30 years - as a teacher, a lawyer and union leader. I've visited hundreds of schools and districts. I've seen leaders from the classroom to the national stage who have been willing to set aside their differences and do the hard work that's necessary to create real, enduring change.

While campaigning, I got to know many high-school teachers, and let me say that the good ones are the unsung heroes of our society, and the bad ones are the gravediggers.

There are a lot of people who call themselves teachers or leaders, but they're really just propagandists.

I look back and see the kids who made it through school - it made a huge difference in their lives, which made me believe in the power of public education and what it can do for individuals and communities and the state.