Voices for the Common Good: America Speaks Out on Education

Released on March 30, 2011, this United Way World Wide report shares the aspirations and concerns of everyday people across America about their communities and what it will take for all children to succeed in life. It's based on a series of community conversations local United Ways hosted across the country last fall, as well as some focus groups and a national poll.

Above all, what we heard is that at a time when there is so much acrimony, divisiveness, and negativity in our debates, on the issue of education, everyday people are hungry to get past the posturing and get on to doing whatever it takes to set children up for success. And while so much attention lately has been placed on schools, the people we heard from said again and again that while the schools play an important role, communities, and individuals, have to step forward in a different way.