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I'm a mom, and my view of public education begins and ends with the fundamental question: Is this good for children?

Public schools were designed as the great equalizers of our society - the place where all children could have access to educational opportunities to make something of themselves in adulthood.

There's no silver bullet when it comes to helping all children achieve. Great public schools are our best shot.

So I want my kids to go to public schools because I think it's a better education overall.

America's public schools have served their purpose. Free and compulsory education was good for a somewhat unpromising young nation.

Every child should be given a strong start to their education.

There is a growing acceptance and interest in publicly funded school choice as a catalyst for education reform in general and a way to empower parents to be education reformers.

A high-quality public education can build much-needed skills and knowledge. It can help children reach their God-given potential. It can stabilize communities and democracies. It can strengthen economies. It can combat the kind of fear and despair that evolves into hatred.

Public schooling fosters our common identity as Americans sharing a land of diversity. It promotes the American ideal of opportunity for all, not just some. It cultivates the civic values of respecting individuals as well as collective responsibility.

By far the most important factor in the success or failure of any school, far more important than tests or standards or business-model methods of accountability, is simply attracting the best-educated, most exciting young people into urban schools and keeping them there.