Lost in the news of the week was a headline that ought to be a source of concern for every American. It said, "Many Nations Passing U.S. in Education." 本周被一条本应令每个美国人担忧的标题淹没在新闻之中。它写道："多国在教育上超越美国。"
Now, debates in Washington tend to be consumed with the politics of the moment: who's up in the daily polls; whose party stands to gain in November. But what matters to you -- what matters to our country -- is not what happens in the next election, but what we do to lift up the next generation. And the fact is, there are few issues that speak more directly to our long term success as a nation than issues concerning the education we provide to our children. 如今，华盛顿的争论往往被眼前的政治所充斥：谁在每日民调中领先；哪个政党能在十一月占优。但对你而言真正重要的——对我们的国家而言真正重要的——不是下次选举会发生什么，而是我们为提升下一代做了什么。事实上，几乎没有任何议题比我们为孩子们提供的教育更能直接影响我们国家的长远成功。
Our prosperity in the 20th century was fueled by an education system that helped grow the middle class and unleash the talents of our people more fully and widely than at any time in our history. We built schools and focused on the teaching of math and science. We helped a generation of veterans go to college through the GI Bill. We led the globe in producing college graduates, and in turn we led in producing ground-breaking technologies and scientific discoveries that lifted living standards and set us apart as the world's engine of innovation. 我们在20世纪的繁荣，得益于一套帮助壮大中产阶级、比历史上任何时期都更充分、更广泛地释放人民才华的教育体系。我们兴建学校，着力推进数学和科学教学。我们通过《退伍军人权利法案》帮助一代退伍军人上大学。我们在培养大学毕业生方面领先全球，并因此在开创性技术和科学发现上领先，这些成就提高了生活水平，使我们成为世界创新的引擎。
Of course, other nations recognize this, and are looking to gain an edge in the global marketplace by investing in better schools, supporting teachers, and committing to clear standards that will produce graduates with more skills. Our competitors understand that the nation that out-educates us today will out-compete us tomorrow. Yet, too often we have failed to make inroads in reforming and strengthening our public education system -- the debate mired in worn arguments hurled across entrenched divides. 当然，其他国家也认识到这一点，并正通过投资更好的学校、支持教师、坚持明确标准来培养更具技能的毕业生，从而在全球市场中谋求优势。我们的竞争对手明白，今天在教育上超越我们的国家，明天将在竞争中超越我们。然而，我们却往往未能在改革和加强公共教育体系方面取得进展——争论陷入了在根深蒂固的分歧之间互相抛掷的陈词滥调。
As a result, over the last few decades, we've lost ground. One assessment shows American fifteen year olds no longer even near the top in math and science when compared to their peers around the world. As referenced in the news report I mentioned, we've now fallen behind most wealthy countries in our high school graduation rates. And while we once led the world in the proportion of college graduates we produced, today we no longer do. 结果是，过去几十年来，我们不断失去阵地。一项评估显示，与全球同龄人相比，美国十五岁学生在数学和科学方面甚至已不再接近前列。正如我提到的那篇新闻报道所指出的，我们的高中毕业率现已落后于大多数富裕国家。而虽然我们曾在培养大学毕业生的比例上领先世界，如今我们已不再如此。
Not only does that risk our leadership as a nation, it consigns millions of Americans to a lesser future. For we know that the level of education a person attains is increasingly a prerequisite for success and a predictor of the income that person will earn throughout his or her life. Beyond the economic statistics is a less tangible but no less painful reality: unless we take action -- unless we step up -- there are countless children who will never realize their full talent and potential. 这不仅危及我们作为国家的领导地位，也将数百万美国人置于一个黯淡的未来。因为我们知道，一个人所达到的教育水平，日益成为成功的先决条件，也是预测其一生收入的依据。在经济数据之外，还有一个不那么直观但同样痛苦的现实：除非我们采取行动——除非我们挺身而出——否则无数孩子将永远无法实现他们的全部才华和潜能。
I don't accept that future for them. And I don't accept that future for the United States of America. That's why we're engaged in a historic effort to redeem and improve our public schools: to raise the expectations for our students and for ourselves, to recognize and reward excellence, to improve performance in troubled schools, and to give our kids and our country the best chance to succeed in a changing world. 我不接受那样的未来降临在他们身上。我也不接受那样的未来降临在美利坚合众国身上。正因如此，我们正在展开一项历史性的努力，以重塑和改进我们的公立学校：提高对学生和对自己的期望，认可并奖励卓越，改进困境学校的表现，并为我们的孩子和国家在不断变化的世界中取得成功提供最佳机会。
Under the leadership of an outstanding Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, we launched a Race to the Top, through which states compete for funding by committing to reform and raising standards, by rewarding good teaching, by supporting the development of better assessments to measure results, and by emphasizing math and science to help prepare children for college and careers. 在杰出的教育部长阿恩·邓肯的领导下，我们启动了"争优计划"，各州通过承诺改革和提高标准、奖励优秀教师、支持开发更好的评估方法以衡量成效，以及强调数学和科学以帮助孩子为升学和就业做好准备，来竞争拨款资金。
And on Monday, my administration will send to Congress our blueprint for an updated Elementary and Secondary Education Act to overhaul No Child Left Behind. What this plan recognizes is that while the federal government can play a leading role in encouraging the reforms and high standards we need, the impetus for that change will come from states, and from local schools and school districts. So, yes, we set a high bar -- but we also provide educators the flexibility to reach it. 周一，我的政府将向国会提交一份蓝图，更新《初等与中等教育法》，以全面改革《不让一个孩子掉队》法案。这一方案认识到，尽管联邦政府可以在鼓励我们所需的改革和高标准方面发挥主导作用，但变革的动力将来自各州、地方学校和学区。因此，是的，我们设定了高门槛——但我们也赋予教育工作者达成目标的灵活性。
Under these guidelines, schools that achieve excellence or show real progress will be rewarded, and local districts will be encouraged to commit to change in schools that are clearly letting their students down. For the majority of schools that fall in between -- schools that do well but could do better -- we will encourage continuous improvement to help keep our young people on track for a bright future: prepared for the jobs of the 21st century. 根据这些指导原则，表现卓越或取得实质进步的学校将获得奖励，地方学区将被鼓励对那些显然在辜负学生的学校进行改革。对于大多数处于两者之间的学校——即表现尚可但仍有提升空间的学校——我们将鼓励持续改进，帮助年轻人走在通往光明未来的正轨上：为21世纪的工作做好准备。
And because the most important factor in a child's success is the person standing at the front of the classroom, we will better prepare teachers, support teachers, and encourage teachers to stay in the field. In short, we'll treat the people who educate our sons and daughters like the professionals they are. 而由于孩子成功的最关键因素是站在教室前方的那个人，我们将更好地培养教师、支持教师，并鼓励教师留在这一行业。简言之，我们将像对待专业人士那样对待那些教育我们子女的人。
Through this plan we are setting an ambitious goal: All students should graduate from high school prepared for college and a career -- no matter who you are or where you come from. 通过这一方案，我们设定了一个宏伟目标：所有学生都应在高中毕业时为升入大学和就业做好准备——无论你是谁、来自何方。
Achieving this goal will be difficult. It will take time. And it will require the skills, talents, and dedication of many: principals, teachers, parents, students. But this effort is essential for our children and for our country. And while there will always be those cynics who claim it can't be done, at our best, we know that America has always risen to the challenges that we've faced. This challenge is no different. 实现这一目标将十分艰难。它需要时间。它需要许多人的技能、才华和奉献：校长、教师、家长、学生。但这一努力对我们的孩子和我们的国家至关重要。虽然总会有那些声称这不可能做到的愤世嫉俗者，但在我们最出色的时候，我们知道美国总能迎难而上，直面我们所面对的挑战。这一次也不例外。
As a nation, we are engaged in many important endeavors: improving the economy, reforming the health care system, encouraging innovation in energy and other growth industries of the 21st century. But our success in these efforts -- and our success in the future as a people -- will ultimately depend on what happens long before an entrepreneur opens his doors, or a nurse walks the rounds, or a scientist steps into her laboratory. Our future is determined each and every day, when our children enter the classroom, ready to learn and brimming with promise. 作为一个国家，我们正投身于许多重要的事业：改善经济、改革医疗体系、鼓励能源及21世纪其他增长产业的创新。但我们在这些努力中的成功——以及我们作为一个民族未来的成功——最终取决于一位企业家开门营业、一位护士查房、一位科学家走进实验室之前很久所发生的一切。我们的未来在每一天都被决定，那一刻，我们的孩子走进教室，准备学习，满怀希望。
It's that promise we must help them fulfill. 正是这份希望，我们必须帮助孩子们去实现。
Thank you. 谢谢大家。