奥巴马演讲.docx

奥巴马演讲.docx

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奥巴马演讲

 THEPRESIDENT:

 Hello,everybody!

 Hello!

 （Applause.） Thankyou. Thankyousomuch. （Applause.） Thankyou. Everybodyhaveaseat. Haveaseat,everybody.

ItiswonderfultobehereatKenmore. AndIwantto,firstofall,thankourprincipal,Mr.--Dr.JohnWord. Doctor.（Applause.） SuperintendentofArlingtonPublicSchools,PatrickMurphy. （Applause.） IbelievethattheArlingtonCountySchoolBoardisrepresentedhere--wherearethey?

 Theretheyareoverthere. （Applause.） Alldoinggreatwork. We'vegotyourowncongressman,JimMoran,hereinthehouse. （Applause.） Andwe'vegotsomebodywhoIbelieveisgoingtogodownasthefinestSecretaryofEducationwe'veeverhad--ArneDuncan. （Applause.）  

Now,beforeIbegin,letmejustsaythatlikeallAmericans,IcontinuetobeheartbrokenbytheimagesofdevastationinJapan. AndIknowallofyou,youngandold,havebeenwatchingthefullmagnitudeofthistragedyunfold. IwanttoreiterateAmerica’ssupportforthepeopleofJapan,whoaresomeofourclosestfriendsandallies. AndI’vesaiddirectlytothePrimeMinisterofJapan,PrimeMinisterKan,thattheUnitedStateswillcontinuetoofferanyassistancewecanasJapanrecoversfrommultipledisasters,andwewillstandwiththepeopleofJapaninthedifficultdaysahead.

Now,Ijusthadachancetotalkwithsomeofyourteachers,aswellassomestudents,whotoldmeaboutyourall-schoolprojectthat’sweavingthelifeandmusicofDukeEllingtonintoyourclasses. Andbygettingstudentsengagedinlearning,you’reteachingthekindsofskillsabouthowtothinkandhowtoworktogetherthatyoungpeoplearegoingtoneedincollegeandbeyond. That’swhatallofourschoolsneedtobedoing.

Andinaneconomythat’smorecompetitiveandconnectedthaneverbefore,agoodjobandagoodcareerisgoingtodemandagoodeducation. Overthenext10years,nearlyhalfofallnewjobsaregoingtorequiremorethanahighschooldiploma. So,ifyouwantabrightfuture,you’regoingtoneedacollegedegreeoradvancedtraining.

AndasArnementioned,unfortunatelytoomanystudentsaren’tgettingaworld-classeducationtoday. AsmanyasaquarterofAmericanstudentsaren’tfinishinghighschool. Thequalityofourmathandscienceeducationlagsbehindmanyothernations. AndAmericahasfallento9thintheproportionofyoungpeoplewithacollegedegree. Understand,weusedtobefirst,andwenowrank9th. That’snotacceptable.

Andturningthesestatisticsaroundisn’tjusttherightthingtodoforourkids--it’stherightthingtodoforoureconomy,becausethebestjobsprogramoutthereisagoodeducation. Thebesteconomicpolicyisonethatproducesmorecollegegraduates. （Applause.） Andthat’swhy,forthesakeofourchildrenandoureconomyandAmerica’sfuture,we’regoingtohavetodoabetterjobeducatingeverysingleoneofoursonsanddaughters--allofthem.

Now,thatresponsibilitybeginsnotinourclassrooms,butitbeginsinourhomes. Itbeginswithparentswhoareinstillingintheirkidsnotonlyaloveoflearning,butalsotheself-confidenceandespeciallytheself-disciplineandworkethicsthatareattheheartofsuccessinschoolandsuccessinlife. We’vegottoworkhard. Youngpeople,I’mtalkingtoyou.I’vegotacoupleofthemathome. Andthetruthistheworldisgoingtobemorecompetitiveandnobodyisgoingtojustgivesuccesstoyou--you’regoingtohavetoearnit. Andthatmeansyou’vegottoapplyyourself.

Sothat,you’regoingtolearnathome--firstandforemost. Butthat'snotwheretheresponsibilityends. Allofushavearesponsibility,notjustasparents,butascitizens,forgivingourkidsthebestpossibleeducation.

Now,foralongtimeweweren’tsureabouthowtogiveourkidsthatkindofeducation. Therewerealotofargumentsforalotofyears. Somepeoplethoughtifyoujustputmoremoneyintoeducationthatwouldsolvetheproblem. Andthentheothersidethought,moneydoesn’tmatter;whatweneedisreform. Infact,therewerethosewhoarguedthatweshouldjustdismantlethepubliceducationsystemaltogether. Ratherthanworkingtogether,bothsidesremainedlockedinthisstalemateyearafteryear,decadeafterdecade,andnothingmuchchanged.

Andthensomethingbegantohappeninstatesandlocalschoolsdistricts. Insteadofgettingcaughtupintheseold,staledebates,peoplebegantoagreethat,youknowwhat,weneedbothmoremoneyandmorereform. Weneedmoreresourcesfortheschools,butwe’vegottoreorganizehowourschoolsaredoingbusinessinordertoassuresuccessforouryoungpeople.  Peoplebegancomingtogether-–parents,students,teachers,administrators,reformers,localofficials-–andwestartedwitnessingamazingsuccessstoriesallacrossAmerica.

There’saschoolinDenver,BruceRandolphSchool,thatwentfrombeingoneoftheworstschoolsinColoradotograduating97percentofitsseniorslastMay. InCincinnati,TaftHighSchoolwentfromhandingoutonlyonediplomaforeveryfivestudentstograduating95percentofitsseniors,andpreparingthemforcareersintechnology.

Soourgoalasanadministration,mygoalasPresident,hasbeentobuildonthesesuccessesacrossAmerica. Weknowwhatcanwork. Andsotwoyearsago,westarteddoingexactlythat--tryingtofigureouthowdoweincentivizesuccessbystartingsomething,acompetitioncalledRacetotheTop. Sowhatwe’redoingiswe’resayingtostates,proveyou’reseriousaboutreform,andwe’llshowyouthemoney.

Andbecauseit’sacompetitionforlessthanonepercentofwhatourcountryspendsoneducationeachyear,RacetotheTophasledover40statestoraisetheirstandardsforteaching,learning,andstudentachievement--andthesestandardsweren’tdevelopedinWashingtonbuttheyweredevelopedbyRepublicanandDemocraticgovernorsallacrossthiscountry.

Sowe’vemadeenormousprogress. AsArnehassaid,thisisprobablythemostsignificanteducationreforminitiativethatwe’veseeninageneration. Butweneedtomakesurewe’rereachingeverychildinAmerica,notjustthoseinstatesordistrictsthattakepartinRacetotheTop. Andthat’swhynotonlydoweneedtocontinuethiscompetitionwe’vegottoopenitup. We’relettinglocalschooldistrictsapply. （Applause.） We’regoingtoletlocalschooldistrictsapply.

Andthat’swhyweneedtotakethesamebottom-upapproachwhenitcomestoreformingAmerica’smostimportanteducationlaw,otherwiseknownasNoChildLeftBehind. WehavetoreformNoChildLeftBehind. （Applause.）

Now,overtheselastfewweeks,duringwhatwe’vecalledEducationMontharoundtheWhiteHouse,I’vebeentravelingacrossthecountrytalkingwithfolksabouteducation. Infact,we’veactuallybeendoingthatforthelastcoupleofyears. AndwhatI’veheard,whatArnehasheard,whattherestofmyteamhasheardloudandclearfromteachersandstudentsandparentsandcommunitiesisthatNoChildLeftBehindgotsomethingsrightandgotsomethingswrong. ThegoalsofNoChildLeftBehindweretherightgoals:

 Makingapromisetoeducateeverychildwithanexcellentteacher--that’stherightthingtodo,that’stherightgoal. Higherstandardsareright. Accountabilityisright. Shiningalightontheachievementgapbetweenstudentsofdifferentracesandbackgrounds,andthosewithandwithoutdisabilities,that’stherightthingtodo.

Butwhathasn’tworkedisdenyingteachers,schools,andstateswhattheyneedtomeetthesegoals. That’swhyweneedtofixNoChildLeftBehind. Weneedtomakesure--（applause）--weneedtomakesurewe’regraduatingstudentswhoarereadyforcollegeandreadyforcareers. Weneedtoputoutstandingteachersineveryclassroom,andgivethoseteachersthepayandthesupportthattheydeserve. （Applause.） Igotsomeapplauseforthat. （Laughter.）

Weneedtonotonlyholdfailingschoolsaccountable,weneedtohelpturnthoseschoolsaround. Inthe21stcentury,it’snotenoughtoleavenochildbehind. Weneedtohelpeverychildgetahead. Weneedtogeteverychildonapathtoacademicexcellence. （Applause.）

Now,here’sthegoodnews. IamproudofthecommitmentbyDemocratsandRepublicansinCongresstofixNoChildLeftBehind,tomakethisreformareality--becausetheyrecognizeeducationisanareawherewecan’taffordtodragourfeet. AsArnesays,ourkidsonlygetoneshotataneducation,andwe’vegottogetitright. Sothat’swhyI’mcallingonCongresstosendmeaneducationreformbillIcansignintolawbeforethenextschoolyearbegins--（applause）--beforenextyear’sschoolyear. （Applause.）

IwanteverychildinthiscountrytoheadbacktoschoolinthefallknowingthattheireducationisAmerica’spriority. Let’sseizethiseducationmoment. Let’sfixNoChildLeftBehind. （Applause.）  

Now,lastweekwegotareminderofwhyit’ssocriticalthatwereformthislaw. Accordingtonewestimates,underthesystemNoChildLeftBehindputinplace,morethan80percentofourschoolsmaybelabeledasfailing--80percentofourschools. Fouroutoffiveschoolswillbelabeledasfailing. That’sanastonishingnumber. Andourimpulseistoeitherbeoutragedthatthenumbersaresohigh,orskepticalthatthey’reeventrue. Andlet’sfaceit,skepticismissomewhatjustified.Weknowthatfouroutoffiveschoolsinthiscountryaren’tfailing. Sowhatwe’redoingtomeasuresuccessandfailureisoutofline.

Infact,thelistofsupposedlyfailingschoolsincludesschoolsthatareactuallymakingextraordinaryprogress--includingKenmore. So,yes,we’vestillgotmoreworktodohereatthisschooltoclosetheach