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The President: Over the last few weeks, I've been making the case that we

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need to act now on the American Jobs Act,

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so we can put folks back to work and start building an economy

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that lasts into the future.

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Education is an essential part of this economic agenda.

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It is an undeniable fact that countries who out-educate us

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today will out-compete us tomorrow.

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Businesses will hire wherever the highly-skilled and

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highly-trained workers are located.

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But today, our students are sliding against their peers

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around the globe.

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Today, our kids trail too many other countries in math and

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science and reading.

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As many as a quarter of our students aren't even

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finishing high school.

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And we've fallen to 16th in the proportion of our young people

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with a college degree, even though we know that 60% of new

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jobs in the coming decade will require more than a high

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school diploma.

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What this means is that if we're serious about building an

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economy that lasts -- an economy in which hard work pays off with

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the opportunity for solid middle class jobs --

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we had better be serious about education.

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We have to pick up our game and raise our standards.

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As a nation, we have an obligation to make sure that all

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children have the resources they need to learn --

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quality schools, good teachers, the latest textbooks and the

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right technology.

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That's why the jobs bill I sent to Congress would put tens of

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thousands of teachers back to work across the country,

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and modernize at least 35,000 schools.

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That's why Congress should pass that bill right now.

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But money alone won't solve our education problems.

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We also need reform.

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We need to make sure that every classroom is a place of high

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expectations and high performance.

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That's been our vision since taking office.

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And that's why instead of just pouring money into the system

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that wasn't working, we launched a competition called Race

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to the Top.

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To all 50 states, we said, "If you show us the most

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innovative plans to improve teacher quality and student

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achievement, we'll show you the money."

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For less than 1% of what we spend on education each year,

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Race to the Top has led states across the country to raise

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their standards for teaching and learning.

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These standards were developed, not by Washington,

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but by Republican and Democratic governors throughout

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the country.

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And since then, we have seen what's possible when reform

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isn't just a top-down mandate, but the work of local teachers

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and principals; school boards and communities.

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That's why in my State of the Union address this year,

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I said to Congress, you need to reform the No Child Left Behind

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law based on the same principles that have guided

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Race to the Top.

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While the goals behind No Child Left Behind were admirable,

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experience has taught us that the law has some serious flaws

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that are hurting our children instead of helping them.

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Teachers are being forced to teach to the test,

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while subjects like history and science are being squeezed out.

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And in order to avoid having their schools labeled as

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failures, some states lowered their standards in a race to

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the bottom.

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These problems have been obvious to parents and educators all

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over this country for years.

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But for years, Congress has failed to fix them.

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So now, I will.

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Our kids only get one shot at a decent education.

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And they can't afford to wait any longer.

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So yesterday, I announced that we'll be giving states more

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flexibility to meet high standards for teaching

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and learning.

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It's time for us to let states and schools and teachers come up

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with innovative ways to give our children the skills they need to

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compete for the jobs of the future.

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This will make a huge difference in the lives of students all

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across the country.

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For example, yesterday, I was with Ricci Hall,

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the principal of a school in Worcester, Massachusetts.

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Every single student who graduated from Ricci's school in

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the last three years went on to college.

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But because they didn't meet the standards of No Child Left

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Behind, Ricci's school was labeled as failing last year.

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That will change because of what we did yesterday.

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From now on, we'll be able to encourage the progress at

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schools like Ricci's.

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From now on, people like John Becker,

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who teaches at one of the highest-performing middle

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schools in D.C., will be able to focus on teaching his 4th

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graders math in ways that improves their performance

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instead of just teaching to a test.

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Superintendents like Dave Estrop from Ohio will be able to focus

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on improving teaching and learning in his district instead

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of spending all his time on bureaucratic mandates from

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Washington that don't get results.

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This isn't just the right thing to do for our kids --

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it's the right thing to do for our country, and our future.

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It's time to put our teachers back on the job.

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It's time to rebuild and modernize our schools.

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And it's time to raise our standards, up our game,

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and do everything it takes to prepare our children to succeed

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in the global economy.

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Now is the time to once again make our education system the

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envy of the world.

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Thanks for listening.