The Answers I Remember Longest Are The

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.

What I Tell These Young People Is, The World Is Not As Dangerous As The Older Generation Would Like You To Believe. Anyone I Know Who Has Ever Taken A Risk And Lost A Job Has Ended Up Getting A Better One Two Years Later.

If You Grow Up In The South Bronx Today Or In South-central Los Angeles Or Pittsburgh Or Philadelphia, You Quickly Come To Understand That You Have Been Set Apart And That There's No Will In This Society To Bring You Back Into The Mainstream.

When I Was Young, I Was Religious.

At That Time, I Had Recently Finished A Book Called Amazing Grace, Which Many People Tell Me Is A Very Painful Book To Read. Well, If It Was Painful To Read, It Was Also Painful To Write. I Had Pains In My Chest For Two Years While I Was Writing That Book.