Bill Clinton’s best speeches invariably are the ones where he travels easily and expertly between disciplines and fields of ideas. On Thursday, Clinton gave one of those stunners, at the KIPP School Summit in Orlando, Florida.

 

KSS, as it’s typically called, brings together thousands of teachers from throughout KIPP—the biggest high-performing charter network in the country focused on underserved kids—along with a sprinkling of board members, advocates, funders, and others. It’s part professional development, part celebration of the best in a family of schools that has made “Work hard, Be nice” a national catchphrase. Some of the most moving speakers are KIPP’s own alumni, many now in college, some now KIPP teachers themselves. There were a lot of “wow” moments.

 

Among the biggest “wows” was Bill Clinton’s thoughtful, expert tour of the issues in education innovation. I did my best to summarize his speech in real time on my own blog; you can read it here.