In ninth grade, I came up with a new form of rebellion. I hadn't been getting good grades, but I decided to get all A's without taking a book home. I didn't go to math class, because I knew enough and had read ahead, and I placed within the top 10 people in the nation on an aptitude exam.

It's hard to improve public education - that's clear.

The bulk of the universities are about teaching kids

Americans want students to get the best education possible. We want schools to prepare children to become good citizens and members of a prosperous American economy.

Research shows that there is only half as much variation in student achievement between schools as there is among classrooms in the same school. If you want your child to get the best education possible, it is actually more important to get him assigned to a great teacher than to a great school.

Our teachers deserve better feedback

In K-12, almost everybody goes to local schools. Universities are a bit different because kids actually do pick the university. The bizarre thing, though, is that the merit of university is actually how good the students going in are: the SAT scores of the kids going in.

We all know that there are these exemplars who can take the toughest students, and they'll teach them two-and-a-half years of math in a single year.

Until we're educating every kid in a fantastic way, until every inner city is cleaned up, there is no shortage of things to do.

“If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.”

“It’s fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”