Dr. James Comer is the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine’s Child Study Center. In this interview, Dr. Comer explains what he believes is the fundamental problem underlying the American education system today.

Tony Mackay is Executive Director of the Melbourne, Australia-based Centre for Strategic Education. In this interview, Mr. Mackay explains what countries that are outperforming the United States in education are doing that we here are not.

Gene Wilhoit currently serves as Executive Director of the Council of Chief State School Officers. In this interview, Mr. Wilhoit discusses the widely-adopted core curriculum standards in math and language arts that the CCSSO developed for K-12 students across America.

Randi Weingarten is President of the 1.5 million-member American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. Ms. Weingarten responds to the criticism that the AFT is an obstacle to reform, and explains why she believes members of her union are often blamed for the failures of the education system.

Barnett Berry is the founder and President of the Center for Teaching Quality, Inc. Here Mr. Berry addresses the central question of his recently released book, “Teaching 2030″: What must Americans do to build a 21st century teaching profession that can fully meet the needs of students entering our public schools between now and 2030?

Dennis Van Roekel is President of the 3.2 million-member National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union. Mr. Van Roekel argues against eliminating teacher tenure, and emphasizes the larger role his organization plays in providing a voice for educators to address policy makers.

Joanne Weiss is Chief of Staff to the United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, and led the Department of Education’s $4.35B “Race to the Top” program. Ms. Weiss describes how she believes “Race to the Top” is helping raise the achievement level of American public school students.

Linda Darling-Hammond is Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University and led President Obama’s transition team on education policy. Professor Darling-Hammond explains how inequity in the American public school system places poorer students at even more of a disadvantage in today’s knowledge-based economy.

Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Professor Ravitch, once a staunch supporter of the charter school and voucher systems, explains her present opposition to those programs, along with her disapproval of President Obama’s signature education [...]

Sworn into office in 2006 and reelected in 2010, Cory Booker is the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. In this interview, Rafael Pi Roman speaks to Mayor Booker about his often adversarial relationship with the teachers’ union — particularly when it comes to school choice and merit pay programs — and about how we can improve education for future generations of students.