MICHAEL BENNET

Ensuring all kids have access to an effective, talented teacher needs to be a national priority.

My time at the Denver Public Schools taught me there is no harder, or more important, job than being a teacher.

Improving some of the rules under which the Senate functions can begin to replace some of the bad habits Washington has developed with better ones.

Often times, political games prevent senators from even beginning to debate some of the most important issues.

Facebook is by far the largest of these social networking sites, and starting with its ill-fated Beacon service, privacy concerns have more than once been raised about how the ubiquitous social networking site handles its user data.

Study after study affirms what I saw in the classroom every day as superintendent of Denver Public Schools: Nothing makes a bigger difference for student learning than great teaching.

We've got a lot of work to do: not only on education, but on the economy, on our tax code, and on reducing our crushing debt.

Our ability to compete for the jobs of tomorrow depends, above all, on our capacity to educate children today.

To protect our country's economic future and the health and well being of all Americans, we must find a way to rein in out-of-control costs, provide quality, affordable health care choices to all, and make outrageous insurance industry abuses a thing of the past.

If we, as individuals, want to keep control of our democracy - rather than have a government paid for by corporate interest checks - then we have to fight back now and make sure our system reflects the belief that people, not corporations, control our democracy.

There is simply no way we are going to make progress on the enormous challenges we face without making hard choices. It's impossible.

I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.

Teacher compensation isn't the only factor in cultivating great teaching. Other important priorities include changing how we measure student performance, providing more flexibility to teacher-preparation programs, and improving how we train and support principals.

While NCLB drove important progress on transparency and data disaggregation, I think it's clear that the status quo in public education is not working for our kids or our country.

If teaching isn't rewarding and challenging, we're going to continue to lose our best teachers to work in other fields.

I believe there's not a harder job in the world than being a teacher, and there isn't a job with a more direct impact on the performance of our students.

To me, the burden of proof isn't on people looking for ways to improve our schools; it's on people who want to keep things the same. Our current system isn't working, and too many kids are being left behind.

Social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr provide an unparalleled ability for people to stay connected in new and unique ways.

I am most interested in the outcomes at schools and school districts and ensuring that all kids are prepared for college and a career in the 21st-century job market.

To get enough of the teachers we need, teaching has to be a great job where talented people are supported and rewarded.

A student who has excelled in the classroom should have the opportunity to attend college and become a productive, taxpaying member of society.

As we all become increasingly reliant on social networking websites and new technologies to stay connected, it's important to remain cognizant of how private personal information and data is handled.

When I was superintendent of Denver Public Schools, I saw the potential of some of our best and brightest students cut short, punished for the actions of others - kids who had grown up and done well in our school system, and kids who know no other home but America. This is unacceptable.

I think if we can get people focused to do what we need to do to keep our kids from being stuck with this debt that they didn't accrue, you might be surprised at how far we can move this conversation.

I've focused on making sure we have talented teachers and principals in our schools through proposals like the GREAT Teachers and Principals Act and the Presidential Teachers Corps.