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David McCullough: We Should Build Statues to Our Best Teachers

The great man of letters pays tribute to the tireless many on the American education system’s front lines.

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The Daily Beast

American author, historian and biographer David McCullough talks with Daily Beast Editor-in-Chief John Avlon at The Charleston Library Society on April 15, 2015.

McCullough wrapped up with a discussion about higher education in America. “We have created the greatest universities in the world,” he said. “It’s as if we’d built cathedrals you can’t see against the horizon.” He also talked about the importance of foreign students coming to the United States to learn, and of good teachers, whom McCullough called the most important United States citizens.

“We should have statues in our city parks to great teachers,” he said. “They should be honored and respected and thanked for the work they do because that’s the work that’s going to count in the future.”

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