Under my vision, all students must be measured. We must test to know. And low-performing schools, those schools that won't teach and won't change, will have three years to produce results, three years to meet standards, three years to make sure the very faces of our future are not mired in mediocrity. And if they're able to do so, the resources must go to the parents so that parents can make a different choice. See every child can learn.
Every child can learn.
And every child in this country deserves to grow in knowledge and character and ideals. Nothing in my view is more important to our prosperity and goodness than cultivated minds and courageous hearts. As W.E.B. Du Bois said a century ago, Either the United States will destroy ignorance or ignorance will destroy the United States. Education is the essential beginning, but we've got to go further. To create communities of promise, we must help people build the confidence and faith to achieve their own dreams.