Wendy Kopp Quotes

Ending educational inequality is going to require systemic change and a long-term, sustained effort. There are no shortcuts and no silver bullets.

Not only do African students deserve excellent universities, they deserve good elementary and secondary schools, too - and then, to have access to ongoing vocational and job training to ensure their skills remain as relevant as possible to African organizations.

I would say if we can select children who are not going to be severely disadvantaged, then we should do so, but I think it has to be done by voluntary choice.

For too long, we financed our schools in a way that has systematically left large segments of our population behind.

The promise of equal educational opportunity envisioned by the Brown decision remains unfulfilled.

In Colombia, education is sometimes considered a luxury, not a human right. And it's not a priority in the agendas of many leaders.

The public education system works for children of families like mine but it does not work for the children of families who I represent …

I know what the teachers got. I know what the politicians got. But I don’t know what the kids got/

Education is important. And the difference of the zip code you grow up in or the zip code you are born in and how you turn out really isn't fair to the kids of our world.

When millions of kids are missing out on school, delivering educational services becomes an issue that concerns the humanitarian system.

As an older generation, we need to give all our young people love and the possibility of realizing their dreams. For instance, if I get really political, the fact that some people can't go to college, can't even think about college, that's not American; that's not right.

Far too many bright, motivated kids are being badly served by their educational experiences - ones at elite, wealthy schools as well as underfunded ones.

I think what Donald [Trump] is saying is that it's unacceptable to him that members of the African-American community - and I'm sure he will say this about other communities as well - who live in violence, who are subject of that, or who do not have the educational opportunities that every child in this country should have so they can reach their fullest potential, that that's unacceptable.

You are exacerbating inequality rather than opening up opportunity.

I wish we could do a better job of understanding what we're doing to kids, because it can be better. It's unfair to give up on these young black kids. We don't do that to white kids.

The world needs champions. Too many people still find the path to opportunity closed to them. Too many still find unnecessary obstacles to education, to housing, to the full and free exercise of the right to vote.

When children and youth are deprived of their right to education, their community is deprived of a sustainable future. It is all the more true with refugees.

As a former teacher and someone who has devoted her entire career to children and public schools, I understand the pain and frustration of parents who feel their children are not receiving the education they deserve.

That's why I created the New America School - to fill the cracks in our public education system.

I hope that people around the world will be as inspired as I am to step up and to speak out on behalf of girls around the world who struggle to go to school.

World's children cannot wait any longer. While international community debates and issues recommendations, statements and fine speeches, world's children - marginalised, socially excluded, poor and vulnerable - continue to suffer.

You can't have a competitive, egalitarian meritocracy if only some of your citizens have the opportunity for a good education.

Too often, our most vulnerable students - English-language learners, immigrants, poor kids, teenage parents, students with behavioral problems and learning disabilities - fall through the cracks.

I want to help establish opportunities for at-risk kids to have the same opportunities in and outside of the classroom as everyone else.

I want to make sure every child has the opportunity for quality education.