That's not to say that women's priorities are better than men's. Rather when women are empowered when they can speak from the experience of their own lives they often address different previously neglected issues. And families and whole communities benefit.

More than ever before there is a global understanding that long-term social economic and environmental development would be impossible without healthy families communities and countries.

Environmental protection doesn't happen in a vacuum. You can't separate the impact on the environment from the impact on our families and communities.

The wave of new productive enterprises would provide opportunities to remedy the unjust distribution of environmental hazards among economic classes and racial and ethnic communities.

I confess that for fifteen years my efforts in education and my hopes of success in establishing a system of national education have always been associated with the idea of coupling the education of this country with the religious communities which exist.

Research shows that children do better in school and are less likely to drop out when fathers are involved. Engaged parents can strengthen communities mentor and tutor students and demonstrate through their actions how much they value their children's education.

Education is the cornerstone of our communities and our country.

Unless children have strong education and strong families and strong communities and decent housing it's not enough to go sit in at a lunch counter.

Our youth deserve the opportunity to complete their high school and college education free of early parenthood. Their future children deserve the opportunity to grow up in financially and emotionally stable homes. Our communities benefit from healthy productive well-prepared young people.

Parents should continue to become more involved with their communities and more involved in their children's education.