Stop beating down our teachers - they are the key to unlocking our potential as a state and nation:

Stop beating down our teachers - they are the key to unlocking our potential as a state and nation

Michigan and America have major challenges to overcome with the New Year.

Tom Watkins

Training our adults to be competitive on the world stage and educating more of our children to world-class standards is the key to the country’s future prosperity. Far too many Americans are still out of work. Economic and social pressures continue to mount as technology and the emergence of new economies in China, Brazil, India, Turkey, and now Africa change our very way of life.

Globalization and technology will pick up the pace into the second decade of our 21st century.

Knowledge, creativity, skill, and talent are the commodities that will matter most as individuals, states and the nation re-calibrates to the new normal.

More than a decade ago, President Bill Clinton captured the essence of America at his 1993 Inaugural Address when he said, "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by