In this fiscal climate, we’re looking for inexpensive fixes in education. Money helps to improve salaries and school infrastructure, but there’s really only one educational measure that matters: Are our own children happy and challenged?

Challenging students and making them happy should not be difficult for any good teacher. There are two keys to achieving this desired result: Teachers need to like children and look forward to each day with them, and they need to treat every student and every class as “gifted.” That costs very little.