When my sisters and I were kids going to DC public schools, school supplies were not the big deal they are today, ... Giving today's children the basic supplies they need is a good way to start them off thinking positively about doing well in school.

With small schools and declining enrollment, two or three kids can dramatically affect test scores. We tested 75 fewer students district wide than last year.

That's really important, if you have kids in different schools, going to different neighborhoods, and going to different after school activities. We believe safety is knowing who lives in your neighborhood, near your home, near your place of worship, near the school, day care centers.

shootouts at Easter egg hunts -- that's what it comes down to.

There is no reason to repeat bad history.

Affirmative action is the most important antidiscrimination technique ever instituted in the United States. It is the one tool that has had a demonstrable effect on discrimination... Affirmative action, by all statistical measures, has been the central ingredient to the creation of the black middle class.