Weekly Address: Congress Should Back Plan to Hire Teachers
 

每周电视讲话：国会应该支持教师招募计划

Hi, everybody.  This week, I spent some time traveling across Iowa talking with folks about rebuilding an economy where if you work hard, you and your family can get ahead.
 

大家好。这个星期，我花些时间走访了爱荷华州，与大家谈论的是重建一个这样的经济体：只要你努力工作，你和你的家庭就一定能取得成功。

And along the way, I stopped in at Cascade High School to thank the teachers there for doing such a great job – and wish them luck as they head back to the classroom for this school year.
 

路上，我驻足喀斯喀特高中，感谢那些做着伟大工作的教师们，并祝愿他们在这一新的学年能有幸重回讲台。

There’s nothing more important to our country’s future than the education we give our kids. And there’s no one more important to that education than the person at the front of the classroom.
 

对我们国家的未来而言，没有什么比给孩子们提供良好的教育更重要了。在教育上也没有任何人比站在讲台前的那个人更重要。

Teachers matter.  Most work tirelessly, with modest pay, sometimes digging into their own pocket for school supplies – just to make a difference.  They give everything for our kids – and in return, we should invest in them.
 

关键就是老师。他们大多数工作上不知疲倦、工资却少的可怜，有时候还不得不自己掏腰包买教学用品——为的只是要给孩子们带来改变。他们为我们的孩子们付出了所有，反过来，我们也应该为他们增加投入。

But here’s the thing: this year, several thousand fewer educators will be going back to school.  Since 2009, we’ve lost more than 300,000 education jobs, in part, because of budget cuts at the state and local level.
 

但事实却并非如此：今年，仅有数千名教育工作者可以重返校园。自2009年以来，我们总共失去了30万个教育工作岗位，其部分原因就是全国和地方的预算削减。

Think about what that means for our country.  At a time when the rest of the world is racing to out-educate America; these cuts force our kids into crowded classrooms, cancel programs for preschoolers and kindergarteners, and shorten the school week and the school year.
 

想一想，这对我们国家意味着什么。曾几何时，我们一流的教育是世界各地竞相追逐的标杆，而预算削减却迫使我们的孩子们的教室更拥挤，学前教育和幼儿教育老师培训计划被取消，每周学习时间和学年时间被缩短。

That’s the opposite of what we should be doing as a country.  States should be making education a priority in their budgets, even in tough fiscal times.  And Congress should be willing to help out – because this affects all of us.
 

这是不是我们作为一个国家应该做的事情。即便是在紧张的财政预算时期，各州也应该把教育放在预算的头等重要位置。而国会也应该欣然出手相助，因为这将影响到我们所有人。

That’s why part of the jobs bill that I sent to Congress last September included support for states to prevent further layoffs and to rehire teachers who’d lost their jobs.  But here we are – a year later with tens of thousands more educators laid off – and Congress still hasn’t done anything about it.
 

正因为此，去年9月我提交国会的一份就业法案中就包括为各州提供支持避免教师进一步失业并重新招募已经失业的教师。但事实却是，一年以后，成千上万的教育工作者失业了，而国会却依然无动于衷。

In fact, the economic plan that almost every Republican in Congress voted for would make the situation even worse.  It would actually cut funding for education – which means fewer kids in Head Start, fewer teachers in our classrooms, and fewer college students with access to financial aid – all to pay for a massive new tax cut for millionaires and billionaires.
 

实际上，国会的每一个共和党人所支持的经济计划都将使得现状更加恶化。这一计划将进一步削减教育基金，这将意味着“领先计划”【注】资助的孩子更少了，学校的老师更少了，能获得经济援助的大学生更少了。所有这些都将为给亿万富豪们的新的大规模减税政策埋单。

注：“领先计划”是医疗与公共服务部于1965年开始实施的旨在援助低收入家庭3-4岁孩子的教育、医疗及营养的全面计划。

That’s backwards.  That’s wrong.  That plan doesn’t invest in our future; it undercuts our future.
 

这是历史倒退，是错误的。这一计划不是要为我们的未来投资，而是要挖掉我们未来的墙角。

If we want America to lead in the 21st century, nothing is more important than giving everyone the best education possible – from the day they start preschool to the day they start their career.
 

如果我们希望美国能在21世纪引领全球，没有什么比给与每个人最好的受教育的机会更加重要，从一个人开始学前教育的那一天直到开始职业生涯的那一天为止。

That’s why we launched a national competition to improve our schools.  And for less than one percent of what our nation spends on education each year, we’ve encouraged almost every state to raise their standards – the first time that’s happened in a generation.
 

正因为此，我们实施了一项改善学校教学环境的全国性竞争计划。由于每年教育支出仅占全国支出的不到1%，我们已经让几乎每个州都提高了标注，在这一代人的时间里是头一次。

That’s why we’ve invested in math and science education, and given states more flexibility on No Child Left Behind.
 

正因为此，我们在数学和科学教育上加大投入，让各州在“不让一个孩子掉队”计划实施上有更多灵活性。

And that’s why we’ve reformed the student loan program to put students before big banks, and increased financial aid for millions of young people – because in America, higher education cannot be a luxury; it’s an economic necessity every family should be able to afford.
 

正因为此，我们改革助学贷款计划，让大银行为学生提供贷款，增加对数百万年轻学子的资金援助，因为在美国，高等教育不应该是奢侈品，而应该是每个家庭都能承担得起的经济必需品。

This is a country where no matter what you look like or where you come from, if you’re willing to study and work hard, you can go as far as your talents will take you.  You can make it if you try.  I am only the President of the United States today because of the chance my education gave me.  I want every child in America to have that chance.  That’s what I’m fighting for.  And as long as I have the privilege of being your President, that’s what I’m going to keep fighting for.
 

在这个国家，无论你长相如何，无论你来自哪里，只要你肯努力学习和工作，你就可以依靠自己的天分达到应有的高度。只要努力尝试就能成功。我能成为美国历史上唯一一位（黑人）总统，就是因为有了她给与我的受教育机会。我希望每个孩子都有这样的机会。这也是我为之奋斗的目标。只要我还有幸担任总统，我就将继续为之奋斗不止。

Thanks, and have a great weekend.
 

谢谢大家，周末愉快！

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[讲话背景]With students starting to head back to school, President Obama used this week’s address to discuss the critical role that education plays in America’s future. Nothing is more important to a child’s education than a great teacher. Unfortunately, tens of thousands of teachers will not be going back to school this year, partially because of budget cuts at the state and local level. That means more crowded classrooms, fewer kindergarten and preschool programs, and shorter school years and weeks.  President Obama has proposed a jobs bill that would help states prevent further layoffs and rehire teachers, but Congress refuses to pass it. Instead, the budget that almost every Republican voted for would further cut education in order to give tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires.  The White House has taken steps including investing in science and math, giving states more flexibility on No Child Left Behind, and increasing financial aid for millions of young people, but in order to help America lead in the 21st century, our elected officials in Congress must stand up for our nation’s young people to help ensure that we have the strongest education system in the world.
 

随着学生重返学校，奥巴马总统利用这次的每周讲话与大家讨论了教育在美国未来所扮演的关键角色。对于一个孩子的教育而言没有什么比一个好老师更重要了。但不幸的是，成千上万的教师将在今年失业，部分原因就是全国和地方的预算削减。这将意味着教室更加拥挤，幼儿园和学前教师培训计划更少了，每学年和每周上课的时间更短了。奥巴马总统已经提出了一项就业法案来帮助各州防止教师的进一步失业并重新招募教师，但国会却拒绝通过。相反，每一个共和党人要投票支持的预算法案都将进一步削减教育支出，这样做只是为了要给富豪们提供减税。白宫已经采取了多项措施，包括加大科学和数学教学的投入，给各州在实施“不让一个孩子掉队”计划上更多灵活性，为数百万年轻学子更多资金援助。但为了让美国在21世纪取得领先，国会这些民选官员们必须站出来为国家的年轻人们说话，帮助他们，确保我们拥有世界上最好的教育系统。