Arne Duncan Quotations

About two-thirds of bachelor's degree holders borrow to go to school, and on average they're graduating with more than $26,000 in debt.

Almost 24 million children - one in three - are likely growing up without their father involved in their lives.

I think every student needs access to technology, and I think technology can be a hugely important vehicle to help level the playing field.

States should not balance their budgets on the backs of students.

The cost of college should never discourage anyone from going after a valuable degree.

There was nothing more important I could do than be supportive as a dad.

When I ask teachers why they teach, they almost always say that it is because they want to make a difference in the lives of children.

At a time when going to college has never been more important, it's never been more expensive, and our nation's families haven't been in this kind of financial duress since the great depression. And so what we have is just sort of a miraculous opportunity simply by stopping the subsidy to banks when we already have the risk of loans. We can plow those savings into our students. And we can make college dramatically more affordable, tens of billions of dollars over the next decade.

I worry when athletes are simply used by their universities to produce revenue, to make money for them, nothing to show at the back end. I grew up with a lot of players who had very, very tough lives after the ball started bouncing for them. And that's why I'm going to continue to fight.

State governments generate less revenue in a recession. As state leaders struggle to make up for lost revenue, legislatures tend to cut funding for higher education. Colleges, in turn, answer these funding cuts with tuition hikes.

Surveys show that many talented and committed young people are reluctant to enter teaching for the long haul because they think the profession is low-paying and not prestigious enough.

Historically the Department of Education hasn't been doing enough to drive the sustainability movement, and today, I promise that we will be a committed partner in the national effort to build a more environmentally literate and responsible society.

Hungry children are distracted children. We want to make sure nothing gets in the way of our children performing well academically, including hunger.

City Year is taking on some of the toughest work in education.

Young people know how important it is for dads to be involved in their lives. As I travel the country and talk with students, some of them tell me that their lives would be totally different if their father was around.

Whether it's in an inner-city school or a rural community, I want those students to have a chance to take A.P. biology and A.P. physics and marine biology.

We all have a role to play - the President, Congress, parents, students and schools - in making college affordable and keeping the middle class dream alive.

Money is not the reason that people enter teaching.

I think the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans was Hurricane Katrina,

We've seen more reform in the last year than we've seen in decades, and we haven't spent a dime yet. It's staggering how the Recovery Act is driving change.

Even in a time of fiscal austerity, education is more than just an expense.

Teachers say their schools of education did not adequately prepare them for the classroom. They would have welcomed more mentoring and feedback in their early years.

A postsecondary education is the ticket to economic success in America.

In America, your zip code or your socioeconomic status should never determine the quality of your education.

Most teachers still say they love teaching though they wouldn't mind a little more respect for their challenging work and a little less blame for America's educational shortcomings.

To encourage more top-caliber students to choose teaching, teachers should be paid a lot more, with starting salaries more in the range of $60,000 and potential earnings of as much as $150,000.

Research shows that children do better in school and are less likely to drop out when fathers are involved. Engaged parents can strengthen communities, mentor and tutor students, and demonstrate through their actions how much they value their children's education.

Schools and districts and unions are working together on some really innovative things.

Education is the civil rights issue of our generation.

I just think we can't do enough of this [student exchanges]... And when you get young children traveling internationally, I think they come back different people. And you can't put a price tag - you can't put a value on that.

Teachers support evaluations based on multiple measures: student growth, classroom observation and feedback from peers and parents.

No one is mandating merit pay.

The arts significantly boost student achievement, reduce discipline problems, and increase the odds students will go on to graduate from college. As First Lady Michelle Obama sums up, both she and the President believe 'strongly that arts education is essential for building innovative thinkers who will be our nation's leaders for tomorrow.'

The factory model of education is the wrong model for the 21st century. Today, our schools must prepare all students for college and careers-and do far more to personalize instruction and employ the smart use of technology.

I believe that education is the civil rights issue of our generation. And if you care about promoting opportunity and reducing inequality, the classroom is the place to start. Great teaching is about so much more than education; it is a daily fight for social justice.

To be clear, we [the Department of Education] want curriculum to be driven by the local level. We are by law prohibited from directing curriculum. We don't have a curriculum department.

Wherever you find something extraordinary, you’ll find the fingerprints of a great teacher.

It's fascinating to me that some of the pushback is coming from, sort of, white suburban moms who - all of a sudden - their child isn't as brilliant as they thought they were and their school isn't quite as good as they thought they were, and that's pretty scary,

Borrowing to pay for college used to be the exception; now it's the rule.

We have to say this will not go on.

With innovative programs like Nourish for Knowledge and partnerships with organizations like the Greater Chicago Food Depository, the Chicago Public Schools is working to provide our children with the solid foundation they need for a successful academic career.

This is important to parents. There's never been a spotlight on this, and that's a mistake. I think it's like any workplace. When people feel good about the work, people want to be there. This is not only important for student learning, it's important to school culture.

This grant is really an investment in our collective future. It will help create great new schools in Chicago that will produce the kind of students who can one day grow up and lead companies like Abbott.

It is unbelievable that guys can run up and down like it's the Wild West with assault rifles.