在过去的几周里，我一直在忙着准备《美国就业法案》这一我们急需的法案，这将让人们能重返工作岗位并开始搭建一个在未来持续增长的经济体。

　　教育是经济体系中至关重要的环节。毫无疑问，当前在教育上领先于我们的国家也必将在未来的竞争中胜出。无论何地的企业都会聘用拥有高级技能，训练有素的员工。

　　但是今天，我们的学生相对于全球的同龄人其成绩却在下滑。现在，我们的孩子们在数学，科学以及阅读上被其他国家的孩子们甩在了后面。我们有超过四分之一的学生不能完成高中教育。而在大学毕业生占年轻人的比例中我们已经下降到了全球第16位，而我们都知道在未来10年，60%以上的工作岗位都需要高中以上的学历。

　　这意味着如果我们认真对待构建一个持续发展的经济体——一个拥有坚实的中产阶级，辛勤劳动能得到回报的经济体——我们就应该更加认真对待教育问题。我们要重新加入竞争，提高我们的标准。

　　作为一个国家，我们有义务确保所有的孩子都拥有他们学校所需要的资源——高质量的学校，优秀的教师，最新的教科书以及正确的教学技术。在我提交过会的就业法案中，我让全国成千上万教师重返工作岗位，并对至少35，000所学校进行现代化改造，原因就在于此。国会现在应该通过这项法案。

　　但是钱不能完全解决我们的教育问题。我们依然需要改革。我们要确保每个教室都是充满期待，有优异成绩出现的地方。

　　这是我主政以来大家的共同愿景。这也是为什么我们不是简单的将钱投入到这一不能正常运转的系统中，而是启动了一项“争创一流”的竞争计划的原因。对于所有50个州，我们曾说：“你要你们向我们展示能有效提高教师质量和学生成绩的创新方案，我们就给你们投钱。”

　　由于我们每年在教育上的投入减少了不到1%，而“争创一流”计划却将全国各州提高了教学标准。这些标准不是由华盛顿提出的，而是全国各州的民主党和共和党州长们制定的。从那时起，我们意识到这项改革的成功不是靠自上而下的行政命令，而是靠地方的教师，学校校长，董事会以及社区的努力。

　　这也是为什么我在今年的国情咨文中说，国会将对《不让一个孩子掉队法》进行改革，基于的正是与“争创一流”计划同样的原则。

　　《不让一个孩子掉队法》背后的目标是值得尊重的，但历史经验告诉我们这项法律存在一些致命缺陷伤害了我们的孩子们而不是在帮助他们。老师们被逼着教孩子们应付考试，而向历史以及科学之类的科目就被挤出了课程表。为了避免自己的学校被贴上失败的标签，有些州降低了标准却在竞争中垫底。

　　多年来，家长们以及教育工作者们对这些问题十分明了。但这些年，国会却一直没有修正这些问题。因此，现在，我希望可以。我们的孩子只有一次机会得到良好的教育。而他们不能再等下去了。

　　昨天，我宣布宣布各州在制定改进教学质量的创新措施上有更大的灵活性。是时候让各州，学校以及老师们一起来创新，教授我们的孩子各项技能以适应未来工作岗位竞争的需要。

　　这将为全国的孩子们的一生带来巨大的变化。昨天，我与麻省沃斯特的一所高中的校长，里奇·哈尔先生会面。过去三年里，从里奇学校毕业的每一个学生都顺利进入了大学。而由于他们不能达到《不让一个学生掉队法》的标准，去年里奇的学校被认定为差等。

　　过去的这些做法需要改变。从现在开始，我们将鼓励能像里奇这样取得进步的学校。从现在开始像约翰·贝克这样的，特区最好的中学老师之一，将能更加专注于如何教他的四年级学生们数学以改善他们的成绩而不是仅仅教他们如何考试。像俄亥俄州的戴维·艾斯托普这样的监管人员就可以更关注如何改进他所管辖区域内的教学质量而不是把时间耗费在处理从华盛顿下达的不能解决什么问题的各种行政指令上。

　　这不仅仅是对我们的孩子们来说是正确的事情——对我们国家以及我们的未来来说也是正确的事情。是时候让我们的老师们重返工作岗位。是时候对我们的学校进行重建和现代化改造了。是时候提高我们的标准，改进我们的竞争机制，做所有应该做的事情让我们的孩子们为在未来全球经济的竞争中取胜做好准备了。现在是让全球再一次为我们的教育系统而艳羡的时候了。

　　谢谢聆听！

　　============================================

　　WEEKLY ADDRESS: Strengthening the American Education  System

　　WASHINGTON—In this week’s address, President Obama  told the American people that it is time to raise the standards of our  education system so that every classroom is a place of high expectations and  high performance.  On Friday, the  President announced that states will have greater flexibility to find  innovative ways of improving the quality of learning and teaching, so that we  can strengthen performance in our classrooms and ensure that teachers are  helping students learn rather than teaching to the test.  By modernizing our schools and improving  the education system, the United States can continue building an economy that  lasts into the future and prepare the next generation to succeed in the global  economy.

　　Over the last  few weeks, I’ve been making the case that we need to act now on the American  Jobs Act, so we can put folks back to work and start building an economy that  lasts into the future.

　　Education is an  essential part of this economic agenda.   It is an undeniable fact that countries who out-educate us today will  out-compete us tomorrow.  Businesses  will hire wherever the highly-skilled, highly-trained workers are located.

　　But today, our  students are sliding against their peers around the globe.  Today, our kids trail too many other  countries in math, science, and reading.   As many as a quarter of our students aren’t even finishing high  school.  And we’ve fallen to 16th in  the proportion of our young people with a college degree, even though we know  that sixty percent of new jobs in the coming decade will require more than a  high school diploma.

　　What this means  is that if we’re serious about building an economy that lasts – an economy in  which hard work pays off with the opportunity for solid middle class jobs –  we had better be serious about education.   We have to pick up our game and raise our standards.

　　As a nation, we  have an obligation to make sure that all children have the resources they  need to learn – quality schools, good teachers, the latest textbooks and the  right technology.  That’s why the jobs  bill I sent to Congress would put tens of thousands of teachers back to work  across the country, and modernize at least 35,000 schools.  And Congress should pass that bill right  now.

　　But money alone  won’t solve our education problems.  We  also need reform.  We need to make sure  that every classroom is a place of high expectations and high performance.

　　That’s been our  vision since taking office.  And that’s  why instead of just pouring money into a system that’s not working, we  launched a competition called Race to the Top.  To all fifty states, we said, “If you show  us the most innovative plans to improve teacher quality and student  achievement, we’ll show you the money.”

　　For less than  one percent of what we spend on education each year, Race to the Top has led  states across the country to raise their standards for teaching and learning.  These standards were developed, not by Washington, but by Republican and  Democratic governors throughout the country.   And since then, we have seen what’s possible when reform isn’t just a  top-down mandate, but the work of local teachers and principals; school  boards and communities.

　　That’s why in my  State of the Union address this year, I said that Congress should reform the  No Child Left Behind law based on the same principles that have guided Race  to the Top.

　　While the goals  behind No Child Left Behind were admirable, experience has taught us that the  law has some serious flaws that are hurting our children instead of helping  them.  Teachers are being forced to  teach to a test, while subjects like history and science are being squeezed  out.  And in order to avoid having  their schools labeled as failures, some states lowered their standards in a  race to the bottom.

　　These problems  have been obvious to parents and educators all over this country for  years.  But for years, Congress has  failed to fix them.  So now, I  will.  Our kids only get one shot at a  decent education.  And they can’t  afford to wait any longer.

　　Yesterday, I  announced that we’ll be giving states more flexibility to meet high standards  for teaching and learning.  It’s time  for us to let states, schools and teachers come up with innovative ways to  give our children the skills they need to compete for the jobs of the future.

　　This will make a  huge difference in the lives of students all across the country.  Yesterday, I was with Ricky Hall, the  principal of a school in Worcester, Massachusetts.  Every single student who graduated from  Ricci’s school in the last three years went on to college.  But because they didn’t meet the standards  of No Child Left Behind, Ricci’s school was labeled as failing last year.

　　That will change  because of what we did yesterday.  From  now on, we’ll be able to encourage the progress at schools like Ricci’s.  From now on, people like John Becker, who  teaches at one of the highest-performing middle schools in D.C., will be able  to focus on teaching his 4th graders math in a way that improves their  performance instead of just teaching to a test.  Superintendents like David Estrop from Ohio  will be able to focus on improving teaching and learning in his district  instead of spending all his time on bureaucratic mandates from Washington  that don’t get results.

　　This isn’t just  the right thing to do for our kids – it’s the right thing to do for our  country, and our future.  It is time to  put our teachers back on the job.  It  is time to rebuild and modernize our schools.   And it is time to raise our standards, up our game, and do everything  it takes to prepare our children succeed in the global economy.  Now is the time to once again make our education  system the envy of the world.

　　Thanks for  listening.