9/15: Five Questions with Gov. Roy Barnes

The Center for a Better South's FIVE QUESTIONS series continues with an in-depth interview with former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes.

In this wide-ranging interview, Barnes talks about the reponse to Hurricane Katrina, education, jobs, consumer protection and more. A highlight:

"Education and economics are both messages of hope. We often discuss what it is that makes the United States different than all of the great civilizations that have gone before us. It is not our Constitution, it is not the Declaration of Independence or any act of Congress. ... What is different about us is that we have not rationed education to a few of the well-to-do. We have said that education is universally available to every child regardless of color, income or where that child is born. Armed with the tools of education a child can climb the social ladder that comes with economic security and increasing affluence. This phenomenon of education and economic growth is the hope which has made us a great and different nation.

"Today that hope is imperiled by those who wish to abandon the public school system and who don't push for reform in our educational institutions because their children are attending a private privileged system. If we lose the bond of education and economic growth we lose the essence of being an American. We can't let that happen and it is progressives who must lead the charge."

• Read the whole interview