John Legend with a spot-on column:

We know how to fix our schools. We just need to DO it. "Waiting for 'Superman' " highlights some schools that are working against all odds.

Although the successful schools featured in the movie are charter schools, they were not highlighted to say that charter schools are the only answer. No one is proposing that every public school should become a charter school. But we'd be crazy not to try to replicate the conditions that make great charter schools work. What charter schools have created is the opportunity to experiment -- free of traditional bureaucracy -- and figure out what works.

…Let me be clear: we cannot turn our backs on failing public schools and just hope they will be taken over by high performing charter school organizations -- this would require time and money we don't have. Charter schools are not the only solution -- but the strategies that have been proven in charter schools are the solution -- solutions that can be replicated in all schools using existing funds. Let's not allow the contrived charter versus public school argument distract us from providing quality schools for all children.

At the end of the day, it's the kids that matter. Every kid deserves a school where teachers, administrators, parents and community members look at them in the eye regardless of where they live or what they look like and say, "You are valuable. You are the future of America. We expect great things from you and we will make sure you get the education you need to succeed in life." We are responsible for our nation's students now and we know what needs to be done.

There is no excuse.

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