2:40 > Huckabee was introduced wearing a dark suit, white shirt and indigo tie.

He is a great story-teller and a great speaker, with a great sense of humor … He really did very well.

My paraphrase:

I am aware some believe a Republican at the NEA is as out of place as Michael Moore at the NRA … but personally I am surprised more Republican candidates are not here.

Education has to stop being a vertical issue – left and right, liberal and conservative. Education must be a vertical issue – it will either move our country up or take us down.

I propose we unleash some Weapons of Mass instruction.

Music and art in every grade level in every classroom in America. A computer is more than just a database, it’s an operating system. Education is more than just data download … it’s about the left and right side of the brain.

When I was a kid my parents paid off for a year an electric guitar and I loved it so much I played until my fingers bled… I wish I could said made me a rock-star. I’m aware the rock-star of politics has already been here today, Barack Obama. I would not be here today if it were not for music. It is essential for every young American citizen.

Education needs to be comprehensive, creative and child-centered. \

We need to wake our students up … with a curriculum that excites out students. We need personalized learning, in addition to core curriculum, allowing students to focus on areas that wake them up and shake them up. They should be at the center of learning.

“if you do one more thing that adds one more page of paperwork to my life, I’m coming after you” my sister, who is a teacher, would say. So we need to put some of that responsibility on students.

I had a great teachers who said it didn’t matter where I started – I didn’t have to finish there.

Never once did I come home and say it was the teachers fault. My greatest fear was not getting in trouble at school, which I did, it was my parents finding out I got in trouble at school.

Teachers ought to be compensated with salary and benefits that recognize the professional training and work. There ought to be a way to elevate that …. to make it attractive so we can train replacements so they can do even a better job than us. I want to believe the greatest generation is not the one about to die, but the one that is yet to be born.

Personalized learning is not an IEP … it puts the responsibility on students. It would not be done so teachers have to do more paperwork … that’s the last things teachers need more of.