Arne Duncan Quotes

“So instead of watching TV, we read every night together as a family.”

— Arne Duncan

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.

— Arne Duncan

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

— Arne Duncan

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.

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

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

— Arne Duncan

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

— Arne Duncan

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

— Arne Duncan

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

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

“Money is not the reason that people enter teaching.”

— Arne Duncan

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

— Arne Duncan

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

— Arne Duncan

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.

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

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

— Arne Duncan

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

— Arne Duncan

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,

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

“Wherever you find something extraordinary, you'll find the fingerprints of a great teacher.”

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

“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.'”

— Arne Duncan

No one is mandating merit pay.

— Arne Duncan

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.

— Arne Duncan

“Education is the civil rights issue of our generation.”

— Arne Duncan

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

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

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

— Arne Duncan

“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.”

— Arne Duncan

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

— Arne Duncan