Being morally honest means sitting down and actually listening to a person and understanding where they're coming from.

I like New York, man - I ain't gonna front. The only thing I probably don't like about New York is that, coming from the South, people aren't hospitable. You tell somebody 'Hi,' and they look at you like you're out your freaking mind.

When I'm sitting around, I'm thinking about how I can make my next professional career move, but more than anything, I'm thinking about the meaning of life and how fleeting it is.

I don't mind have an uncomfortable conversation if those uncomfortable conversations can lead to a bigger dialogue and help us get to a better understanding of whatever it is we are discussing.

As a former teacher and a mother and grandmother, I know firsthand the importance of a quality education.

By assessing the capabilities and knowledge of students in the highest-performing and most rapidly improving education systems, the OECD's Program for International Student Assessment provides valuable options for reform and information on how to achieve it.

Unfortunately, the real achievements of children on the ground became debased and devalued because Labor education secretaries sounded like Soviet commissars praising the tractor production figures when we know that those exams were not the rock-solid measures of achievement that children deserve.

In the balance of my professional life, I've had the privilege of the working as a practicing lawyer and teacher.