Już 62 511 użytkowników uczy się języków obcych z Edustation.
Możesz zarejestrować się już dziś i odebrać bonus w postaci 10 monet.
Jeżeli chcesz się dowiedzieć więcej o naszym portalu - kliknij tutaj
Jeszcze nie teraz ZAREJESTRUJ SIĘlub
Zaloguj »
ZAREJESTRUJ SIĘ
Nie masz konta?
Taking on Education
Poziom:
Temat: Edukacja
THE PRESIDENT: Please, everybody have a seat.
Thank you for the wonderful
introduction, David.
And thank you for the great work
that you are doing each and
every day. And I appreciate such a warm welcome.
Some of you I've gotten a chance
to know; many of you I'm meeting
for the first time. But the spirit of the U.S.
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,
the desire to create jobs and
provide opportunity to people
who sometimes have been left out
-- that's exactly what this
administration is about.
That's the essence of the
American Dream.
And so I'm very proud to have a
chance to speak with all of you.
You know, every so often,
throughout our history, a
generation of Americans bears
the responsibility of seeing
this country through difficult
times and protecting the dream
of its founding for posterity.
This is a responsibility that's
fallen to our generation.
Meeting it will require steering
our nation's economy through a
crisis unlike anything that we
have seen in our time.
In the short term, that means
jump-starting job creation and
restarting lending, and
restoring confidence in our
markets and our financial
system.
But it also means taking steps
that not only advance our
recovery, but lay the foundation
for lasting, shared prosperity.
I know there's some who believe
we can only handle one challenge
at a time. And they forget that Lincoln helped lay down the
transcontinental railroad and
passed the Homestead Act and
created the National Academy of
Sciences in the midst of civil
war. Likewise, President Roosevelt didn't have the luxury
of choosing between ending a
depression and fighting a war;
he had to do both.
President Kennedy didn't have
the luxury of choosing between
civil rights and sending us to
the moon.
And we don't have the luxury of
choosing between getting our
economy moving now and
rebuilding it over
the long term.
America will not remain true to
its highest ideals -- and
America's place as a global
economic leader will be put at
risk -- unless we not only bring
down the crushing cost of health
care and transform the way we
use energy, but also if we do --
if we don't do a far better job
than we've been doing of
educating our sons and
daughters; unless we give them
the knowledge and skills they
need in this new and
changing world.
For we know that economic
progress and educational
achievement have always gone
hand in hand in America.
The land-grant colleges and
public high schools transformed
the economy of an
industrializing nation.
The GI Bill generated a middle
class that made America's
economy unrivaled in the 20th
century.
Investments in math and science
under President Eisenhower gave
new opportunities to young
scientists and engineers all
across the country.
It made possible somebody like a
Sergei Brin to attend graduate
school and found an upstart
company called Google that would
forever change our world.
The source of America's
prosperity has never been merely
how ably we accumulate wealth,
but how well we educate our
people. This has never been more true than it is today.
In a 21st-century world where
jobs can be shipped wherever
there's an Internet connection,
where a child born in Dallas is
now competing with a child in
New Delhi, where your best job
qualification is not what you
do, but what you know --
education is no longer just a
pathway to opportunity and
success, it's a prerequisite for
success.
That's why workers without a
four-year degree have borne the
brunt of recent layoffs, Latinos
most of all.
That's why, of the 30 fastest
growing occupations in America,
half require a Bachelor's degree
or more.
By 2016, four out of every 10
new jobs will require at least
some advanced education or
training.
So let there be no doubt: The
future belongs to the nation
that best educates its citizens
-- and my fellow Americans, we
have everything we need to be
that nation.
We have the best universities,
the most renowned scholars.
We have innovative principals
and passionate teachers and
gifted students, and we have
parents whose only priority is
their child's education.
We have a legacy of excellence,
and an unwavering belief that
our children should climb higher
than we did.
And yet, despite resources that
are unmatched anywhere in the
world, we've let our grades
slip, our schools crumble, our
teacher quality fall short, and
other nations outpace us.
Let me give you a few
statistics.
In 8th grade math, we've fallen
to 9th place.
Singapore's middle-schoolers
outperform ours three to one.
Just a third of our 13- and
14-year-olds can read as well as
they should.
And year after year, a stubborn
gap persists between how well
white students are doing
compared to their African
American and Latino classmates.
The relative decline of American
education is untenable for our
economy, it's unsustainable for
our democracy, it's unacceptable
for our children -- and we can't
afford to let it continue.
What's at stake is nothing less
than the American Dream.
It's what drew my father and so
many of your fathers and mothers
to our shores in pursuit of an
education.
It's what led Linda Brown and
Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez to
bear the standard of all who
were attending separate and
unequal schools.
It's what has led generations of
Americans to take on that extra
job, to sacrifice the small
pleasures, to scrimp and save
wherever they can, in hopes of
putting away enough, just
enough, to give their child the
education that they never had.
It's that most American of
ideas, that with the right
education, a child of any race,
any faith, any station, can
overcome whatever barriers stand
in their way and fulfill their
God-given potential.
(Applause.)
Of course, we've heard all
this year after year after year
after year -- and far too little
has changed.
Certainly it hasn't changed in
too many overcrowded Latino
schools; it hasn't changed in
too many inner-city schools that
are seeing dropout rates of over
50 percent.
It's not changing not because
we're lacking sound ideas or
sensible plans -- in pockets of
excellence across this country,
we're seeing what children from
all walks of life can and will
achieve when we set high
standards, have high
expectations, when we do a good
job of preparing them.
Instead, it's because politics
and ideology have too often
trumped our progress that we're
in the situation that we're in.
For decades, Washington has been
trapped in the same stale
debates that have paralyzed
progress and perpetuated our
educational decline.
Too many supporters of my party
have resisted the idea of
rewarding excellence in teaching
with extra pay, even though we
know it can make a difference in
the classroom.
Too many in the Republican Party
have opposed new investments in
early education, despite
compelling evidence of its
importance.
So what we get here in
Washington is the same old
debate about it's more money
versus more reform, vouchers
versus the status quo.
There's been partisanship and
petty bickering, but little
recognition that we need to move
beyond the worn fights of the
20th century if we're going to
succeed in the 21st century.
(Applause.)
I think you'd all agree that
the time for finger-pointing
is over.
The time for holding us --
holding ourselves accountable
is here.
What's required is not simply
new investments, but new
reforms. It's time to expect more from our students.
It's time to start rewarding
good teachers, stop making
excuses for bad ones.
It's time to demand results from
government at every level.
It's time to prepare every
child, everywhere in America, to
out-compete any worker, anywhere
in the world. (Applause.)
It's time to give all
Americans a complete and
competitive education from the
cradle up through a career.
We've accepted failure for far
too long.
Enough is enough.
America's entire education
system must once more be the
envy of the world -- and that's
exactly what we intend to do.
That's exactly what the budget
I'm submitting to Congress has
begun to achieve.
Now, at a time when we've
inherited a trillion-dollar
deficit, we will start by doing
a little housekeeping, going
through our books, cutting
wasteful education programs.
My outstanding Secretary of
Education, Arne Duncan, who's
here today -- stand up, Arne, so
everybody can see you.
(Applause.)
I'm assuming you also saw my
Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis.
(Applause.)
But Secretary Duncan will use
only one test when deciding what
ideas to support with your
precious tax dollars: It's not
whether an idea is liberal or
conservative, but
whether it works.
And this will help free up
resources for the first pillar
of reforming our schools --
investing in early
childhood initiatives.
This isn't just about keeping an
eye on our children, it's about
educating them.
Studies show that children in
early childhood education
programs are more likely to
score higher in reading and
math, more likely to graduate
from high school and attend
college, more likely to hold a
job, and more likely to earn
more in that job.
For every dollar we invest in
these programs, we get nearly
$10 back in reduced welfare
rolls, fewer health care costs,
and less crime.
That's why the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act that I
signed into law invests $5
billion in growing Early Head
Start and Head Start, expanding
access to quality child care for
150,000 more children from
working families, and doing more
for children with special needs.
And that's why we are going to
offer 55,000 first-time parents
regular visits from trained
nurses to help make sure their
children are healthy and prepare
them for school and for life.
(Applause.)
Even as we invest in early
childhood education, let's raise
the bar for early learning
programs that are falling short.
Now, today, some children are
enrolled in excellent programs.
Some children are enrolled in
mediocre programs.
And some are wasting away their
most formative years in bad
programs.
That includes the one-fourth of
all children who are Hispanic,
and who will drive America's
workforce of tomorrow, but who
are less likely to have been
enrolled in an early childhood
education program than
anyone else.
That's why I'm issuing a
challenge to our states: Develop
a cutting-edge plan to raise the
quality of your early learning
programs; show us how you'll
work to ensure that children are
better prepared for success by
the time they enter
kindergarten.
If you do, we will support you
with an Early Learning Challenge
Grant that I call on Congress
to enact.
That's how we will reward
quality and incentivize
excellence, and make a down
payment on the success of the
next generation.
So that's the first pillar of
our education reform agenda.
The second, we will end what has
become a race to the bottom in
our schools and instead spur a
race to the top by encouraging
better standards and
assessments.
Now, this is an area where we
are being outpaced
by other nations.
It's not that their kids are any
smarter than ours -- it's that
they are being smarter about how
to educate their children.
They're spending less time
teaching things that don't
matter, and more time teaching
things that do.
They're preparing their students
not only for high school or
college, but for a career. We are not.
Our curriculum for 8th graders
is two full years behind top
performing countries.
That's a prescription for
economic decline.
And I refuse to accept that
America's children cannot rise
to this challenge.
They can, and they must, and
they will meet higher standards
in our time.
(Applause.)
So let's challenge our states
-- let's challenge our states to
adopt world-class standards that
will bring our curriculums to
the 21st century.
Today's system of 50 different
sets of benchmarks for academic
success means 4th grade readers
in Mississippi are scoring
nearly 70 points lower than
students in Wyoming -- and
they're getting the same grade.
Eight of our states are setting
their standards so low that
their students may end up on par
with roughly the bottom 40
percent of the world. That's inexcusable.
That's why I'm calling on states
that are setting their standards
far below where they ought to be
to stop low-balling expectations
for our kids.
The solution to low test scores
is not lowering standards --
it's tougher, clearer standards.
(Applause.)
Standards like those in
Massachusetts, where 8th graders
are -- (applause) -- we have a
Massachusetts contingent here.
(Laughter.)
In Massachusetts, 8th graders
are now tying for first -- first
in the whole world in science.
Other forward-thinking states
are moving in the same direction
by coming together as part of a
consortium.
And more states need to do the
same.
And I'm calling on our nation's
governors and state education
chiefs to develop standards and
assessments that don't simply
measure whether students can
fill in a bubble on a test, but
whether they possess 21st
century skills like
problem-solving and critical
thinking and entrepreneurship
and creativity.
That is what we'll help them do
later this year -- that what
we're going to help them do
later this year when we finally
make No Child Left Behind live
up to its name by ensuring not
only that teachers and
principals get the funding that
they need, but that the money is
tied to results.
(Applause.)
And Arne Duncan will also back
up this commitment to higher
standards with a fund to invest
in innovation in our
school districts.
Of course, raising standards
alone will not make much of a
difference unless we provide
teachers and principals with the
information they need to make
sure students are prepared to
meet those standards.
And far too few states have data
systems like the one in Florida
that keep track of a student's
education from childhood
through college.
And far too few districts are
emulating the example of Houston
and Long Beach, and using data
to track how much progress a
student is making and where that
student is struggling.
That's a resource that can help
us improve student achievement,
and tell us which students had
which teachers so we can assess
what's working and what's not.
That's why we're making a major
investment in this area that we
will cultivate a new culture of
accountability in
America's schools.
Now, to complete our race to the
top requires the third pillar of
reform -- recruiting, preparing,
and rewarding
outstanding teachers.
From the moment students enter a
school, the most important
factor in their success is not
the color of their skin or the
income of their parents, it's
the person standing at the front
of the classroom.
That's why our Recovery Act will
ensure that hundreds of
thousands of teachers and school
personnel are not laid off --
because those Americans are not
only doing jobs they can't
afford to lose, they're
rendering a service our nation
cannot afford to lose, either.
(Applause.)
America's future depends on
its teachers.
And so today, I'm calling on a
new generation of Americans to
step forward and serve our
country in our classrooms.
If you want to make a difference
in the life of our nation, if
you want to make the most of
your talents and dedication, if
you want to make your mark with
a legacy that will endure --
then join the teaching
profession.
America needs you.
We need you in our suburbs.
We need you in our small towns.
We especially need you in our
inner cities.
We need you in classrooms all
across our country.
And if you do your part, then
we'll do ours.
That's why we're taking steps to
prepare teachers for their
difficult responsibilities, and
encourage them to
stay in the profession.
That's why we're creating new
pathways to teaching and new
incentives to bring teachers to
schools where they're
needed most.
That's why we support offering
extra pay to Americans who teach
math and science to end a
teacher shortage
in those subjects.
It's why we're building on the
promising work being done in
places like South Carolina's
Teachers Advancement Program,
and making an unprecedented
commitment to ensure that anyone
entrusted with educating our
children is doing the job as
well as it can be done.
Now, here's what that commitment
means: It means treating
teachers like the professionals
they are while also holding them
more accountable -- in up to 150
more school districts.
New teachers will be mentored by
experienced ones.
Good teachers will be rewarded
with more money for improved
student achievement, and asked
to accept more responsibilities
for lifting up their schools.
Teachers throughout a school
will benefit from guidance and
support to help them improve.
And just as we've given our
teachers all the support they
need to be successful, we need
to make sure our students have
the teacher they need to be
successful.
And that means states and school
districts taking steps to move
bad teachers out of the
classroom.
But let me be clear --
(applause.)
Let me be clear -- the
overwhelming number of teachers
are doing an outstanding job
under difficult circumstances.
My sister is a teacher, so I
know how tough teaching can be.
But let me be clear: If a
teacher is given a chance or two
chances or three chances but
still does not improve, there's
no excuse for that person to
continue teaching.
I reject a system that rewards
failure and protects a person
from its consequences. The stakes are too high.
We can afford nothing but the
best when it comes to our
children's teachers and the
schools where they teach.
(Applause.)
Now, that leads me to the
fourth part of America's
education strategy -- promoting
innovation and excellence in
America's schools.
One of the places where much of
that innovation occurs is in our
most effective charter schools.
And these are public schools
founded by parents, teachers,
and civic or community
organizations with broad leeway
to innovate -- schools I
supported as a state legislator
and a United States senator.
But right now, there are many
caps on how many charter schools
are allowed in some states, no
matter how well they're
preparing our students.
That isn't good for our
children, our economy,
or our country.
Of course, any expansion of
charter schools must not result
in the spread of mediocrity, but
in the
advancement of excellence.
And that will require states
adopting both a rigorous
selection and review process to
ensure that a charter school's
autonomy is coupled with greater
accountability -- as well as a
strategy, like the one in
Chicago, to close charter
schools that are not working.
Provided this greater
accountability, I call on states
to reform their charter rules,
and lift caps on the number of
allowable charter schools,
wherever such caps are in place.
Now, even as we foster
innovation in where our children
are learning, let's also foster
innovation in when our
children are learning.
We can no longer afford an
academic calendar designed for
when America was a nation of
farmers who needed their
children at home plowing the
land at the end of each day.
That calendar may have once made
sense, but today it puts us at a
competitive disadvantage.
Our children -- listen to this
-- our children spend over a
month less in school than
children in South Korea --
every year.
That's no way to prepare them
for a 21st century economy.
That's why I'm calling for us
not only to expand effective
after-school programs, but to
rethink the school day to
incorporate more time -- whether
during the summer or through
expanded-day programs for
children who need it.
(Applause.)
Now, I know longer school days
and school years are not wildly
popular ideas.
(Laughter.)
Not with Malia and Sasha --
(laughter) -- not in my family,
and probably not in yours.
But the challenges of a new
century demand more time
in the classroom.
If they can do that in South
Korea, we can do it right here
in the United States of America.
Of course, no matter how
innovative our schools or how
effective our teachers, America
cannot succeed unless our
students take responsibility for
their own education.
That means showing up for school
on time, paying attention in
class, seeking out extra
tutoring if it's needed,
staying out of trouble.
To any student who's watching, I
say this: Don't even think about
dropping out of school. Don't even think about it.
(Applause.)
As I said a couple of weeks
ago, dropping out is quitting on
yourself, it's quitting on your
country, and it's not an option
-- not anymore.
Not when our high school dropout
rate has tripled in
the past 30 years.
Not when high school dropouts
earn about half as much as
college graduates.
Not when Latino students are
dropping out faster than just
about anyone else.
It's time for all of us, no
matter what our backgrounds, to
come together and solve this
epidemic.
Stemming the tide of dropouts
will require turning around our
low-performing schools.
Just 2,000 high schools in
cities like Detroit and Los
Angeles and Philadelphia produce
over 50 percent of
America's dropouts.
And yet there are too few proven
strategies to transform these
schools. And there are too few partners to get the job done.
So today, I'm issuing a
challenge to educators and
lawmakers, parents and teachers
alike: Let us all make turning
around our schools our
collective responsibility
as Americans.
And that will require new
investments in innovative ideas
-- that's why my budget invests
in developing new strategies to
make sure at-risk students don't
give up on their education; new
efforts to give dropouts who
want to return to school the
help they need to graduate; and
new ways to put those young men
and women who have left school
back on a pathway to graduation.
Now, the fifth part of America's
education strategy is providing
every American with a quality
higher education -- whether it's
college or technical training.
Never has a college degree been
more important.
Never has it been more
expensive.
And at a time when so many of
our families are bearing
enormous economic burdens, the
rising cost of tuition threatens
to shatter dreams.
And that's why we will simplify
federal college assistance forms
so it doesn't take a Ph.D to apply for financial aid.
(Applause.)
That's why we're already
taking steps to make college or
technical training affordable.
For the first time ever, Pell
Grants will not be subject to
the politics of the moment or
the whim of the market -- they
will be a commitment that
Congress is required to uphold
each and every year.
(Applause.)
Not only that; because rising
costs mean Pell Grants cover
less than half as much tuition
as they did 30 years ago, we're
raising the maximum Pell Grant
to $5,550 a year and indexing it
above inflation.
We're also providing a
$2,500-a-year tuition tax credit
for students from working
families.
And we're modernizing and
expanding the Perkins Loan
Program to make sure schools
like UNLV don't get a tenth as
many Perkins loans as schools
like Harvard.
To help pay for all of this,
we're putting students ahead of
lenders by eliminating wasteful
student loan subsidies that cost
taxpayers billions each year.
All in all, we are making
college affordable for 7 million
more students with a sweeping
investment in our children's
futures and America's success.
And I call on Congress to join
me and the American people by
making these investments
possible.
(Applause.)
This is how we will help meet
our responsibility as a nation
to open the doors of college to
every American.
But it will also be the
responsibility of colleges and
universities to control
spiraling costs.
We can't just keep on putting
more money in and universities
and colleges not doing their
part to hold down tuitions.
And it's the responsibility of
our students to walk through the
doors of opportunity.
In just a single generation,
America has fallen from 2nd
place to 11th place in the
portion of students
completing college.
That is unfortunate, but it's by
no means irreversible.
With resolve and the right
investments, we can retake the
lead once more.
And that's why, in my address to
the nation the other week, I
called on Americans to commit to
at least one year or more of
higher education or career
training, with the goal of
having the highest proportion of
college graduates in the world
by the year 2020.
And to meet that goal, we are
investing $2.5
billion to identify and
support innovative initiatives
across the country that achieve
results in helping students
persist and graduate.
So let's not stop at education
with college.
Let's recognize a 21st century
reality: Learning doesn't end in
our early 20s.
Adults of all ages need
opportunities to earn new
degrees and new skills --
especially in the current
economic environment.
That means working with all our
universities and schools,
including community colleges --
a great and undervalued asset --
to prepare workers for good jobs
in high-growth industries; and
to improve access to job
training not only for young
people who are just starting
their careers, but for older
workers who need new skills to
change careers.
And that's going to be one of
the key tasks that Secretary
Solis is involved with, is
making sure that lifelong
learning is a reality and a
possibility for more Americans.
It's through initiatives like
these that we'll see more
Americans earn a college degree,
or receive advanced training,
and pursue a successful career.
And that's why I'm calling on
Congress to work with me to
enact these essential reforms,
and to reauthorize the Workforce
Reinvestment Act.
That's how we will round out a
complete and competitive
education in the United States
of America.
So here's the bottom line: Yes,
we need more money; yes, we need
more reform; yes, we need to
hold ourselves more accountable
for every dollar we spend.
But there's one more ingredient
I want to talk about.
No government policy will make
any difference unless we also
hold ourselves more accountable
as parents -- because
government, no matter how wise
or efficient, cannot turn off
the TV or put away
the video games.
Teachers, no matter how
dedicated or effective, cannot
make sure your child leaves for
school on time and does their
homework when they get
back at night.
These are things only
a parent can do.
These are things that our
parents must do.
I say this not only as a father,
but also as a son.
When I was a child my mother and
I lived overseas, and she didn't
have the money to send me to the
fancy international school where
all the American kids
went to school.
So what she did was she
supplemented my schooling with
lessons from a correspondence
course.
And I can still picture her
waking me up at 4:30 a.m,
five days a week, to go over
some lessons before
I went to school.
And whenever I'd complain and
grumble and find some excuse and
say, "Awww, I'm sleepy," she'd
patiently repeat to me her most
powerful defense.
She'd say, "This is no picnic
for me either, buster."
(Laughter and applause.)
And when you're a kid you
don't think about the sacrifices
they're making.
She had to work; I just had to
go to school.
But she'd still wake up every
day to make sure I was getting
what I needed for my education.
And it's because she did this
day after day, week after week,
because of all the other
opportunities and breaks that I
got along the way, all the
sacrifices that my grandmother
and my grandfather made along
the way, that I can stand here
today as President of the
United States.
It's because of the sacrifices
-- (applause.)
See, I want every child in
this country to have the same
chance that my mother gave me,
that my teachers gave me, that
my college professors gave me,
that America gave me.
You know these stories; you've
lived them, as well.
All of you have a similar story
to tell.
You know, it's -- I want
children like Yvonne Bojorquez
to have that chance.
Yvonne is a student at Village
Academy High School
in California.
Now, Village Academy is a 21st
century school where cutting
edge technologies are used in
the classroom, where college
prep and career training are
offered to all who seek it, and
where the motto is "respect,
responsibility, and results."
Now, a couple of months ago,
Yvonne and her class made a
video talking about the impact
that our struggling economy was
having on their lives.
And some of them spoke about
their parents being laid off, or
their homes facing foreclosure,
or their inability to focus on
school with everything that was
happening at home.
And when it was her turn to
speak, Yvonne said: "We've all
been affected by this economic
crisis."
We are all college bound
students; we're all businessmen,
and doctors and lawyers and all
this great stuff.
And we have all this potential
-- but the way things are going,
we're not going to be able to
fulfill it.
" It was heartbreaking that a
girl so full of promise was so
full of worry that she and her
class titled their video,
"Is anybody listening?"
So, today, there's something I
want to say to Yvonne and her
class at Village Academy:
I am listening.
We are listening. America is listening.
(Applause.)
And we will not rest until
your parents can keep your jobs
-- we will not rest until your
parents can keep their jobs and
your families can keep their
homes, and you can focus on what
you should be focusing on --
your own education; until you
can become the businessmen,
doctors, and lawyers of
tomorrow, until you can reach
out and grasp your dreams
for the future.
For in the end, Yvonne's dream
is a dream shared
by all Americans.
It's the founding promise of our
nation: That we can make of our
lives what we will; that all
things are possible for all
people; and that here in
America, our best days lie
ahead. I believe that.
I truly believe if I do my part,
and you, the American people, do
yours, then we will emerge from
this crisis a stronger nation,
and pass the dream of our
founding on to posterity, ever
safer than before. (Applause.)
Thank you very much.
God bless you.
God bless the United States
of America.
Thank you. (Applause.)
