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. 请大家就座。谢谢你精彩的介绍，大卫。也感谢你每天所做的出色工作。我很感激如此热烈的欢迎。你们中有些人我已经有机会认识了；很多人我是第一次见面。但美国西裔商会的这种精神，这种为那些有时被忽视的人们创造就业机会和提供机会的愿望——正是这届政府的追求所在。这就是美国梦的本质。因此，我非常荣幸有机会与各位交流。
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. 你们知道，在我们的历史中，每隔一段时间，就会有一代美国人肩负起带领这个国家度过艰难时期、为后代守护建国梦想的责任。这一责任已经落到了我们这一代人肩上。要履行这一责任，我们需要引导国家经济度过一场我们这个时代前所未有的危机。
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. 在短期内，这意味着启动就业创造、重启信贷，并恢复市场和金融体系的信心。但这同时也意味着要采取一些步骤，不仅推动经济复苏，还要为持久的、共享的繁荣奠定基础。
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. 我知道有些人认为我们一次只能应对一个挑战。他们忘了林肯在内战期间还帮助铺设了横贯大陆铁路、通过了《宅地法》并创建了国家科学院。同样，罗斯福总统没有在结束萧条和打赢战争之间做选择的余地，他必须两者兼顾。肯尼迪总统也没有在民权和登月之间做选择的余地。
And we don't have the luxury of choosing between getting our economy moving now and rebuilding it over the long term. 我们同样没有在眼下振兴经济和长期重建经济之间做选择的余地。
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. 美国不会忠于其最高理想——美国作为全球经济领袖的地位也将面临风险——除非我们不仅降低医疗保健的沉重成本、改变我们使用能源的方式，而且如果我们不比过去做得更好，不好好教育我们的子女；除非我们给予他们在这个不断变化的新世界中所需要的知识和技能。
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. 因为我们知道，在美国，经济进步和教育成就始终是相辅相成的。赠地学院和公立高中改变了一个工业化国家的经济。《退伍军人权利法案》培育了中产阶级，使美国经济在20世纪无可匹敌。艾森豪威尔总统时期对数学和科学的投资，为全国各地的年轻科学家和工程师提供了新机遇。正是这些投资让像谢尔盖·布林这样的人有机会进入研究生院，并创办了一家名为谷歌的初创公司，从而永远改变了我们的世界。
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. 美国繁荣的源泉从来不仅仅是我们积累财富的能力有多强，而是我们教育人民的能力有多好。这一点在今天比以往任何时候都更加真实。在21世纪的世界里，工作可以转移到任何有互联网连接的地方，达拉斯出生的孩子现在要与新德里的孩子竞争，你最好的工作资历不是你做什么，而是你知道什么——教育不再仅仅是通向机遇和成功的途径，而是成功的先决条件。
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. 这就是为什么没有四年大学学位的工人首当其冲地承受了近期裁员的冲击，其中拉美裔尤为严重。这就是为什么在美国增长最快的30个职业中，有一半需要学士学位或更高学历。到2016年，每十个新工作中就有四个需要至少一定程度的高等教育或培训。
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. 因此，毫无疑问：未来属于那些最善于教育其公民的国家——我的美国同胞们，我们拥有成为那个国家所需的一切。我们有最好的大学、最著名的学者。我们有创新的校长、充满激情的教师和天赋异禀的学生，我们还有把孩子的教育视为唯一优先事项的父母。我们拥有卓越的传统，以及坚定不移的信念——我们的孩子应该比我们攀登得更高。
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. 然而，尽管我们拥有世界上任何地方都无法比拟的资源，我们却让成绩下滑、学校破败、师资质量不足，让其他国家超越了我们。让我给你们列举一些数据。在八年级数学方面，我们已经跌至第九名。新加坡中学生的表现以三比一超过我们的学生。我们13和14岁的孩子中只有三分之一能达到应有的阅读水平。年复一年，白人学生与非裔和拉美裔同学之间的成绩差距顽固地存在着。
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. 美国教育的相对衰落对我们的经济来说是不可承受的，对我们的民主来说是不可持续的，对我们的孩子来说是不可接受的——我们承担不起让它继续下去的代价。
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. 攸关的正是美国梦本身。正是它吸引我的父亲和你们中许许多多人的父母来到我们的海岸，追求教育。正是它引领琳达·布朗和贡萨洛、费利西塔斯·门德斯扛起所有就读隔离且不平等学校之人旗帜。正是它引领一代又一代美国人承担额外的工作、牺牲小小的乐趣、处处精打细算，只希望能攒下足够的钱——刚好足够——给予他们的孩子他们自己从未得到过的教育。
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. 这是最美国化的理念：只要有了适当的教育，任何种族、任何信仰、任何阶层的孩子，都能克服挡在他们道路上的任何障碍，实现上帝赋予的潜能。
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. 当然，这些话我们年复一年地听了一遍又一遍——而改变却少之又少。当然，在太多拥挤的拉美裔学校中，它没有改变；在太多辍学率超过50%的内城学校中，它没有改变。它之所以没有改变，不是因为我们缺乏合理的想法或明智的计划——在这个国家优秀的角落里，我们看到了当设定高标准、抱有高期望、做好充分准备时，来自各行各业的孩子能够且将会取得的成就。
Instead, it's because politics and ideology have too often trumped our progress that we're in the situation that we're in. 相反，是因为政治和意识形态太频繁地凌驾于我们的进步之上，才使我们陷入了如今的困境。
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. 几十年来，华盛顿一直陷于同样陈旧的辩论中，这些辩论使进步停滞，延续了我们教育的衰落。我所在政党太多支持者抵制用额外薪酬奖励教学卓越的想法，尽管我们知道这能在课堂上产生积极影响。共和党太多人反对对早期教育进行新投资，尽管有令人信服的证据表明其重要性。因此，在华盛顿我们得到的是关于"更多资金"对"更多改革"、择校券对维持现状的同样陈旧的辩论。
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. 这里有党派之争和琐碎的争吵，却很少有人认识到，如果我们要在21世纪取得成功，就需要超越20世纪的陈旧争斗。
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. It's time to give all Americans a complete and competitive education from the cradle up through a career. 我想你们都同意，相互指责的时代已经结束了。让自己——让我们自己承担起责任的时代已经到来。所需要的不仅仅是新的投资，更是新的改革。是时候对我们的学生有更多期待了。是时候开始奖励好老师、不再为坏老师找借口了。是时候要求各级政府拿出成果了。是时候让美国每一个地方的每一个孩子做好准备，与世界上任何地方的任何工人竞争了。是时候从摇篮到职业为所有美国人提供完整而具有竞争力的教育了。
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. 我们接受失败已经太久了。够了就是够了。美国的整个教育体系必须再次成为世界羡慕的对象——这正是我们打算做到的。
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. I'm assuming you also saw my Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis. 这正是我提交给国会的预算已经开始实现的目标。当前，在我们继承了一万亿美元赤字的时候，我们将从做一些清理工作开始，审查我们的账目，削减浪费性的教育项目。我杰出的教育部长阿恩·邓肯今天就在这里——阿恩，站起来，让大家都能看到你。我估计你们也看到了我的劳工部长希尔达·索利斯。
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. 但邓肯部长在决定用你们宝贵的税金支持哪些想法时，将只采用一个标准：不是看一个想法是自由派还是保守派的，而是看它是否有效。这将有助于为改革我们学校的第一个支柱——投资早期儿童项目——腾出资源。
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. 这不仅仅是照看我们的孩子，更是教育他们。研究表明，参加早期儿童教育项目的孩子更有可能在阅读和数学上取得更高分数，更有可能从高中毕业并上大学，更有可能拥有一份工作，也更有可能在这份工作中获得更高收入。我们在这些项目上每投入一美元，就能通过减少福利救济、降低医疗成本和减少犯罪获得近十美元的回报。
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. 这就是为什么我签署的《美国复苏与再投资法案》投资50亿美元用于扩大"早期先行计划"和"先行计划"，为来自工薪家庭的15万名儿童扩大获得优质儿童保育的机会，并为有特殊需要的孩子提供更多帮助。这也是为什么我们将为5.5万名初为人父母者提供受过培训的护士的定期上门服务，帮助确保他们的孩子健康成长，为入学和生活做好准备。
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. 即使我们在投资早期儿童教育，也要提高那些不达标早期学习项目的门槛。今天，有些孩子参加了优秀的项目，有些孩子参加了平庸的项目，还有些孩子在糟糕的项目中度过了最关键的成长岁月。这包括占所有儿童四分之一的拉美裔孩子，他们将驱动美国未来的劳动力，但他们参加早期儿童教育项目的可能性却比其他任何群体都低。
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. 因此，我向各州提出挑战：制定一个先进的计划，提高早期学习项目的质量；向我们展示你们将如何努力确保孩子们在进入幼儿园时已经为成功做好了更好的准备。如果你们做到了，我们将通过我呼吁国会批准的"早期学习挑战拨款"来支持你们。这就是我们奖励质量、激励卓越、为下一代的成功支付首期款的方式。
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. 这是我们教育改革议程的第一个支柱。第二个支柱，我们将终结学校中竞相降低标准的局面，转而通过鼓励更好的标准和评估来推动一场"力争上游"的竞赛。这是一个我们正被其他国家超越的领域。不是他们的孩子比我们的更聪明——而是他们在教育孩子方面更加明智。他们花更少的时间教授无关紧要的内容，花更多的时间教授真正重要的东西。他们不仅在为高中或大学做准备，更是在为职业生涯做准备。
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. 我们却没有。我们的八年级课程比表现最好的国家落后整整两年。这是经济衰退的处方。我拒绝接受美国孩子无法应对这一挑战。他们能，他们必须，他们也一定会在我们这个时代达到更高的标准。
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. 因此，让我们挑战各州——让我们挑战各州采用世界级标准，将我们的课程带入21世纪。今天的体系有50套不同的学术成功基准，这意味着密西西比州四年级读者的得分比怀俄明州的学生低近70分——而他们得到的是相同的成绩等级。我们有八个州的标准定得如此之低，以至于他们的学生最终可能与全世界大约后40%的人处于同一水平。
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. Standards like those in Massachusetts, where 8th graders are -- we have a Massachusetts contingent here. 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. 这是不可原谅的。这就是为什么我呼吁那些把标准定得远低于应有水平的州，停止低估我们孩子的期望。解决低分问题的办法不是降低标准——而是更严格、更清晰的标准。像马萨诸塞州那样的标准——我们这里有一个马萨诸塞州的代表团。在马萨诸塞州，八年级学生现在并列第一——全世界科学第一。其他有远见的州正通过组成联合体的方式朝同一方向努力。
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. 更多的州也需要这样做。我呼吁全国的州长和州教育主管制定标准和评估体系，不仅仅是衡量学生能否在试卷上涂填气泡，而是衡量他们是否具备21世纪的技能，如解决问题、批判性思维、创业精神和创造力。
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. And Arne Duncan will also back up this commitment to higher standards with a fund to invest in innovation in our school districts. 这正是我们今年晚些时候将帮助他们做到的——当我们最终让《不让一个孩子掉队》这部法律名副其实时，不仅确保教师和校长获得所需资金，还要将资金与成果挂钩。阿恩·邓肯还将用一笔基金来支持这一更高标准的承诺，用于投资学区的创新。
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. 当然，仅靠提高标准并不会有多大改变，除非我们为教师和校长提供他们所需的信息，以确保学生准备好达到这些标准。而且拥有像佛罗里达那样从童年到大学全程跟踪学生教育数据系统的州太少了。效仿休斯顿和长滩的榜样、利用数据跟踪学生进步情况和困难所在的学区也太少了。
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. 这是一种可以帮助我们提高学生成绩的资源，可以告诉我们哪些学生上了哪些老师的课，从而让我们评估什么是有效的、什么是无效的。这就是为什么我们在这个领域进行重大投资，以在美国的学校中培养一种新的问责文化。
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. 现在，要完成"力争上游"竞赛，需要改革的第三个支柱——招聘、培养和奖励优秀的教师。从学生踏入学校的那一刻起，他们成功的最重要因素不是肤色或父母的收入，而是站在教室前面的人。
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. 这就是为什么我们的《复苏法案》将确保数十万教师和学校工作人员不被裁员——因为这些美国人不仅在从事他们承受不起失去的工作，他们还在提供我们国家同样承受不起失去的服务。
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. 美国的未来取决于其教师。因此，今天我呼吁新一代美国人挺身而出，在教室里为国效力。如果你想为我们国家的生命带来改变，如果你想充分发挥你的才能和奉献精神，如果你想留下不朽的印记——那么加入教师这个职业吧。美国需要你。我们需要你在郊区，我们需要你在小城镇，我们尤其需要你在内城。我们需要你在全国各地的教室里。
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. 如果你们尽了自己的责任，我们也会尽我们的责任。这就是为什么我们正在采取措施，让教师为他们艰巨的职责做好准备，并鼓励他们留在这一行业。这就是为什么我们正在创建通往教学的新途径和新激励措施，将教师引向最需要他们的学校。这就是为什么我们支持向教授数学和科学的美国人提供额外薪酬，以解决这些学科的师资短缺。
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. 这也是为什么我们正在南卡罗来纳州教师晋升项目等地的 promising 工作基础上，做出前所未有的承诺，确保每一个被托付教育我们孩子的人，都在尽其所能地做好这份工作。
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. 现在，这一承诺意味着什么：它意味着像对待专业人士那样对待教师，同时也要让他们承担更多责任——在多达150个学区中推行。新教师将由有经验的教师指导。优秀教师将因学生成绩提高而获得更多报酬，并被要求承担更多提升学校的责任。一所学校的所有教师都将受益于指导和帮助，以促进他们改进。
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 -- 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. 正如我们给予教师成功所需的一切支持，我们也需要确保我们的学生拥有他们成功所需的老师。这意味着各州和学区要采取措施，把不合格的教师调离课堂。但我要明确——让我说清楚——绝大多数教师在困难的环境下都在出色地工作。我的姐姐是教师，所以我知道教学有多艰难。
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. 但我要明确表示：如果一位老师得到了一次、两次或三次机会但仍然没有改进，那么这个人就没有借口继续教学。我拒绝一个奖励失败、保护人免受其后果的制度。代价太高了。在孩子的老师和学校方面，我们只能接受最好的。
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. 现在，这引出美国教育战略的第四个部分——促进美国学校的创新与卓越。创新大量发生的地方之一，是我们最优秀的特许学校。这些是由家长、教师和公民或社区组织创办的公立学校，拥有广泛的创新自主权——这些学校我在担任州参议员和联邦参议员时就曾支持。
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. 但现在，无论一些特许学校教育学生多么出色，许多州对特许学校的数量仍设有上限。这对我们的孩子、我们的经济和我们的国家都没有好处。当然，特许学校的扩张不能导致平庸的蔓延，而应推动卓越的提升。这将要求各州采取严格的选拔和审查流程，确保特许学校的自主权与更大的问责制相结合——同时制定像芝加哥那样的策略，关闭那些运作不善的特许学校。
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. 在提供更大问责制的前提下，我呼吁各州改革特许学校规则，取消对特许学校数量的上限，无论这些上限存在于何处。
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. 现在，即使我们在孩子们在哪里学习方面推动创新，也要在孩子们何时学习方面推动创新。我们不能再承受一个为美国还是农业国、需要孩子每天放学回家犁地时设计的校历。那个校历可能曾经合理，但今天它让我们处于竞争劣势。我们的孩子——请注意——我们的孩子每年在学校的时间比韩国孩子少一个多月。这不是让他们为21世纪经济做准备的方式。
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. 这就是为什么我呼吁我们不仅要扩大有效的课后项目，还要重新思考在校时间，以纳入更多时间——无论是在夏季还是通过为有需要的孩子提供延展日项目。
Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas. Not with Malia and Sasha -- 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. 我知道延长在校时间和学年并不是什么受欢迎的想法。玛利亚和萨莎不会同意——在我们家不会，在你们家可能也不会。但新世纪的挑战要求在教室里花更多时间。如果韩国能做到，我们在美利坚合众国也能做到。
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. 当然，无论我们的学校多么创新，教师多么优秀，除非我们的学生为自己的教育负责，否则美国不可能成功。这意味着按时到校、上课专心、需要时寻求额外辅导、远离麻烦。对任何正在观看的学生，我要说：不要想着退学，想都不要想。
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. 正如我几周前所说，退学就是放弃自己，就是放弃你的国家，这不是一个选项——不再是了。在我们的高中辍学率在过去30年中增加了两倍的情况下不行。在高中辍学者的收入大约只有大学毕业生一半的情况下不行。在拉美裔学生辍学速度比其他任何群体都快的情况下不行。是我们所有人——无论什么背景——团结起来解决这一流行病的时候了。
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. 遏制辍学潮需要扭转我们表现不佳的学校。仅底特律、洛杉矶和费城等城市的2000所高中就产生了美国50%以上的辍学生。然而，转化这些学校的有效策略太少了。能够完成这项工作的合作伙伴也太少了。
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. 因此，今天我向教育工作者和立法者、家长和教师们提出挑战：让我们所有人都把扭转我们的学校作为我们作为美国人的共同责任。这将需要对创新理念进行新投资——这就是为什么我的预算投资于开发新策略，确保处于风险中的学生不放弃教育；做出新努力，为希望重返学校的辍学者提供毕业所需的帮助；并探索新途径，让那些已经离开学校的年轻人重新走上毕业之路。
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. 现在，美国教育战略的第五个部分是为每个美国人提供优质高等教育——无论是大学还是技术培训。大学学位从来没有像现在这样重要，也从来没有像现在这样昂贵。在如此多的家庭承受着巨大经济负担的时候，不断上涨的学费威胁着要粉碎梦想。这就是为什么我们将简化联邦大学资助表格，让申请助学金不再需要一个博士学位。
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. 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. 这就是为什么我们已经在采取措施，让大学或技术培训变得负担得起。有史以来第一次，佩尔助学金将不再受制于当下的政治或市场的 whim——它们将成为国会每年必须兑现的承诺。不仅如此；由于不断上涨的成本意味着佩尔助学金覆盖的学费不到30年前的一半，我们将最高佩尔助学金提高到每年5550美元，并将其与通胀率挂钩。我们还在为来自工薪家庭的学生提供每年2500美元的学费税收抵免。
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. 我们还在现代化和扩大帕金斯贷款项目，确保像内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校这样的学校获得的帕金斯贷款不再只有哈佛大学之类的学校的十分之一。
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. 为了帮助支付这些费用，我们正通过取消每年花费纳税人数十亿美元的浪费性学生贷款补贴，将学生置于贷款方之前。总而言之，我们通过对我们孩子的未来和美国的成功进行大规模投资，让700多万学生上得起大学。我呼吁国会与我及美国人民一起，使这些投资成为可能。
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. 这就是我们履行作为国家为每个美国人打开大学之门责任的方式。但控制不断攀升的成本也是大学的责任。我们不能只是不断投入更多资金，而大学和学院却不尽自己的努力压低学费。走进机会之门也是我们学生的责任。
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. 仅仅在一代人的时间里，美国就从大学生毕业比例的第二位跌至第十一位。这是不幸的，但绝非不可逆转。只要有决心和正确的投资，我们就能重新夺回领先地位。这就是为什么几周前我在对全国的讲话中，呼吁美国人承诺至少完成一年或更多的高等教育或职业培训，目标是在2020年前拥有全球最高比例的大学毕业生。
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. 为实现这一目标，我们正投资25亿美元，用于识别和支持全国各地在帮助学生坚持学业并顺利毕业方面取得成果的创新举措。
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. 因此，让我们不要止步于大学教育。让我们认识一个21世纪的现实：学习不会在我们二十出头时结束。所有年龄段的成年人都需要机会去获得新学位和新技能——尤其是在当前的经济环境下。这意味着与我们所有的大学和学校合作，包括社区大学——一项伟大而被低估的资产——为工人提供在高增长行业中获得好工作的准备；并改善获得职业培训的途径，不仅为刚刚开始职业生涯的年轻人，也为需要新技能以转换职业的年长工人。
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. 确保终身学习成为更多美国人的现实和可能，将是索利斯部长参与的关键任务之一。
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. 正是通过这些举措，我们将看到更多的美国人获得大学学位或接受高级培训，并追求成功的职业。这就是为什么我呼吁国会与我合作，通过这些必要的改革，并重新授权《劳动力再投资法》。这就是我们如何在美国完善一套完整而具有竞争力的教育。
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. 所以结论是：是的，我们需要更多资金；是的，我们需要更多改革；是的，我们需要对花费的每一美元更加负责。但还有一点我想谈。任何政府政策都不会产生任何改变，除非我们作为父母也对自己更加负责——因为政府，无论多么明智或高效，都不能关掉电视或收起电子游戏。教师，无论多么敬业或有效，都不能确保你的孩子按时上学和晚上回家后做作业。
These are things only a parent can do. These are things that our parents must do. 这些只有父母才能做到。这些是我们的父母必须做的事。
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. 我不仅以父亲的身份说这番话，也以儿子的身份说。当我小时候，我和母亲住在海外，她没有钱送我去那些美国孩子都去的豪华国际学校。所以她用函授课程的功课来补充我的学校教育。我至今还能想起她每周五天凌晨四点半叫醒我，在我上学前复习一些功课。每当我抱怨、嘟囔、找借口说"啊，我好困"时，她总会耐心地向我重复她最有力的辩词。
She'd say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster." 她会说："这对我来说也不是件轻松的事，小子。"
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. 当你还是个孩子的时候，你不会想到他们做出的牺牲。她得工作，而我只需要去上学。但她每天还是会早起，确保我得到教育上所需的一切。正是因为她日复一日、周复一周地这样做，因为一路走来我获得的所有其他机会和际遇，我的祖母和祖父一路走来所做的所有牺牲，我今天才能以美国总统的身份站在这里。
It's because of the sacrifices -- 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. 正是因为这些牺牲——看，我希望这个国家的每一个孩子都能拥有我母亲给予我的同样的机会，我的老师给予我的机会，我的大学教授给予我的机会，美国给予我的机会。
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." 你们知道这些故事，你们也经历过。你们所有人都有类似的故事可讲。你们知道，这——我希望像伊冯娜·博哈凯斯这样的孩子也能拥有那样的机会。伊冯娜是加利福尼亚州村庄学院高中的一名学生。村庄学院是一所21世纪的学校，在课堂上使用尖端技术，向所有有志者提供大学预科和职业培训，校训是"尊重、责任和成果"。
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. 几个月前，伊冯娜和她的同学制作了一段视频，谈论我们举步维艰的经济对他们生活的影响。他们中有些人谈到了父母被裁员，或者面临房屋被止赎，或者因为家里发生的一切而无法专注于学业。轮到她发言时，伊冯娜说："我们都受到了这场经济危机的影响。我们都是准备上大学的学生；我们都是商人、医生、律师，所有这些了不起的人。"
And we have all this potential -- but the way things are going, we're not going to be able to [fulfill it]." "我们拥有所有这些潜力——但按照现在的情况发展，我们将无法实现它。"
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. 一个如此充满希望的女孩却如此充满忧虑，以至于她和她的同学把他们的视频命名为"有人在听吗？"这令人心碎。所以，今天，我有话想对伊冯娜和村庄学院的同学们说：我在听。我们在听。美国在听。
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. 在你们的父母能够保住工作之前我们不会停歇——在你们的父母能够保住他们的工作、你们的家人们能够保住他们的家园、你们能够专注于你们应该专注的事情——你们自己的教育之前；在你们成为明天的商人、医生和律师之前，在你们能够伸出手抓住你们的未来梦想之前，我们不会停歇。
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. 因为归根结底，伊冯娜的梦想是所有美国人共同的梦想。这是我们国家的建国承诺：我们能够主宰自己的人生；对所有人来说，一切皆有可能；而在这里，在美国，我们最好的日子还在前方。我相信这一点。我真心相信，如果我尽我的责任，你们美国人民尽你们的责任，那么我们将作为一个更强大的国家走出这场危机，并将我们建国的梦想比以往更安全地传递给后代。
Thank you very much. God bless you. God bless the United States of America. 非常感谢。上帝保佑你们。上帝保佑美利坚合众国。
Thank you. 谢谢。