The teachers I know in Detroit Public Schools--to a person--are dedicated to the children who have no educational options. Are they nation-builders, then?

Mrs. McIntosh required us all to memorize those lines. In between the spelling tests on Friday and endless multiplication worksheets, we all stood up and repeated "ask not..." until we knew it, cold.

Isn't "diluting" the problem of poverty one of our educational goals? Shouldn't all Americans be concerned about racial and economic equity?

The videotape can be a useful tool in building a dynamic teaching practice. Don't turn it into a bludgeon.

The headline says it all: Should I Care if My Child's Teacher Once Worked as a Stripper?

The option of mass-delivering standardized instruction electronically is only the icing on what could be a very lucrative cake for commercial education materials developers, courtesy of the Common Core.

Isn't it incumbent upon those who hold the public trust--and I include both educators and political leaders in this group--to speak with discretion and a commitment to peace?

Sweeping changes in educational practice and policy tend to come as a surprise to teachers, simply because they haven't been paying attention to the discourse or trends, what with recess duty, lesson plans, parent phone calls and trying to stay awake until the news.

The eradication of Ignorance and Want? Not there yet.

It is ironic that, in a month when you can hear "For Unto Us a Child is Born" in the dog food aisle of the supermarket, we are worried about whether it's OK to be roasting chestnuts over an open fire in the school gymnasium.