Charles Best Quotes

Kids go to school and college and get through, but they don't seem to really care about using their minds. School doesn't have the kind of long term positive impact that it should.

My early wounds were the English school system among other things. It wasn't merely the discipline, it was the ways in which boys got what was called the school spirit.

I think the big mistake in schools is trying to teach children anything, and by using fear as the basic motivation. Fear of getting failing grades, fear of not staying with your class, etc. Interest can produce learning on a scale compared to fear as a nuclear explosion to a firecracker.

What we want is more learning in schools and less activism in schools.

I would argue that the charter schools are really good at building programming and curriculum around the issues and the interests of the kids that they serve.

I have seen schools across the country working long and hard to embed a commitment to the unlimited development of every student into their cultures. The result, in terms of motivated learners and test scores, often is spectacular.

Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment where they can learn, thrive, and grow.

I think there are really are some public schools, incredibly successful public schools, that are inculcating a real educational ethic in their students.

Successful state schools work because charismatic heads or teachers are terrific bluffers, giving the impression that they are to be feared while knowing in their hearts that they have no real power.

Arts education must be part of our education solution because it works for all students.

There is an old saying that you're a product of your environment. Parents can only do so much when eight hours of the day is spent at school. As parents, we try to teach our kids to be respectful to others and teach them old values, but a lot of it is down to the schools.

I was, if you like, a successful schoolboy in that I had a degree of talent in all the required things that make you a success at school.

If every day in the life of a school could be the last day but one, there would be little fault to find with it.

I'm happy to be helping people that are passionate about empowering parents for student learning.

I went to a public school through sixth grade, and being good at tests wasn't cool.

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.

Many seventh graders I know in Illinois, as well as around the Nation, are studying the Constitution. I was pretty impressed with the quality of education our children are receiving because they had not expected me to ask them about it.

The teachers are trying to build the same culture in the classroom as we're building in the organization.

Wonderful teachers should never let themselves be drill sergeants for the state.

I think it's pretty well established that great schools are predicated on great faculty. That is not a Wisconsin market; that is a worldwide market.

As a former high school teacher and a student in a class of 60 urchins at St. Brigid's grammar school, I know that education is all about discipline and motivation. Disadvantaged students need extra attention, a stable school environment, and enough teacher creativity to stimulate their imaginations. Those things are not expensive.

One of the problems we have is children are not in school long enough in the day and during the year.

I went to public school my whole life. It was a performing arts school, so I can't say if it was a typical experience or not, because it's all I know.

Schools must stop being holding pens to keep energetic young people off the job market and off the streets. We stretch puberty out a long, long time.

I had a great education. From kindergarten to John Dewey High School in Coney Island, I am public-school educated.