I'm a growth-is-good Democrat.

An actual understanding of our economy is that our economy most depends on our rate of innovation... It's not actually understood by most of the people running for office, but it's not in fact disputed.

I do not believe you have to be an elected official to help 'change the world.' In fact, maybe it is easier from the outside.

I do think that a school day that matches the work day makes a lot of difference for working families, but the big driver of this effort is education. Period. We have a lot of students not gaining the skills they need, and it is pretty clear that school does not offer enough time to get that job done.

I realized I didn't need to go to work every day. I could work for the pleasure and the challenge, not for the mortgage payment.

Indeed, while so much in education reform can divide activists into warring camps, expanding learning time unites reformers around a shared vision of bringing excellence and breadth to our nation's most impoverished and struggling schools.

Small business is crucial. I think we talk so much about large businesses, they're well represented; they talk well for themselves. But most people work for small businesses; most wealth that stays in a community gets generated from them.

Athletics and physical activity are important parts of youth development, in my experience and view.

Schools serving disadvantaged students need more time to help these students catch up and gain the core academic skills they will need to succeed in our economy and society.

I understand fully that jobs are created by the private sector, having been all my life in the private sector, but I don't buy the argument that the state has no role to play.