VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Challenges States To Overhaul School

By Kent Klein
White House
04 November 2009
 
President Barack Obama at a middle school in Madison, Wisconsin, 04 Nov 2009
President Barack Obama is challenging the 50 U.S. states to reform their education systems.  The president says the U.S. needs better schools to compete in the 21st century global economy.

President Obama is offering billions of dollars in government grants to states which enact¹ broad reforms in their schools.

"We are putting over $4 billion on the table -$4 billion, with a 'B'-one of the largest investments that the federal government has ever made in education reform," said President Obama.

At a middle school in the North Central state of Wisconsin, the president said some states, but not all, will have a chance to compete for the money.

"We are saying to states, 'If you are committed to real change in the way you educate your children, if you are willing to hold yourselves more accountable, and if you develop a strong plan to improve the quality of education in your state, then we will offer you a big grant to help you make that plan a reality," said Mr. Obama.

One year after he was elected, Mr. Obama said his administration's first priority was to keep the U.S. economy from collapsing².  He said the nation's long-term economic health depends on the quality of its schools.

"In the 21st century, when countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow, there is nothing that will determine the quality of our future as a nation and the lives that our children will lead more than the kind of education we provide them," he said.

State and local governments determine most education policies in the U.S., but the grant money is expected to give the White House increased influence.

The president says some states are moving in the wrong direction, endangering the country's economic competitiveness.

"The United States, a nation that has always led the way in innovation, is now being outpaced in math and science education," said President Obama. "A handful of states have even gone in the wrong direction, lowering their standards at the very moment that they should be raising them."

Mr. Obama praised Wisconsin and nine other states which have updated their education laws and made deals with the unions that oppose some of those changes.

The education grants will come from the $787 billion economic stimulus³ approved early this year. 

1 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

2 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

3 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。