October 14, 2010
RTT News
US President Barack Obama has warned that any reduction in the education budget as recommended by the Republicans would tantamount to “unilateral disarmament” in an “education arms race” that would be detrimental to America’s national interest.
“Nothing would be more shortsighted,” Obama said Wednesday in his Rose Garden at the White House, in reference to the Republican proposal for a cut in education budget by 20 percent.
“There’s an educational arms race taking place around the world right now– from China to Germany, to India to South Korea. Cutting back on education would amount to unilateral disarmament,” he said, adding: “We can’t afford to do that.”
The President pointed out that the nation that educates its children the best would be the nation that leads the global economy in the 21st century.
Its not just about making the US economy more competitive and preparing American kids for the jobs of the future– though all those things are absolutely essential. It’s also about who we are as a people, he argued during the speech that followed a meeting with a group of college students and their parents.
“It’s also about building a brighter future where every child in this country has a chance to rise above any barriers of race or faith or station, and they can fulfill their God-given potential; where the American Dream is a living reality. By opening the doors of college to anyone who wants to go, that’s a future we can help build together,” he added.
Obama said if the Republicans in Congress had their way it would mean reducing financial aid for eight million students and leaving community colleges without the resources they need to prepare students for the jobs of the future.
At a time when the unemployment rate of those who’ve never gone to college has almost doubled, the president queried: “what it is for those who have gone to college, when most of the new jobs being created will require some higher education, when countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow.”
“Offering our children a world-class education isn’t just a moral obligation, it’s an economic imperative,” he pointed out.
The US president said since he took over the presidency, his administration has been doing everything it can to make that kind of education possible, from the cradle to the classroom, from college through a career.
SOURCE: RTT News, http://www.rttnews.com/Content/Policy.aspx?Id=1444937&SM=1
That’s absolutely right. It’s not about Obama’s policies. It’s about our kids’ education.
Hell, yeah! We need to speak up, or else we’ll be left with those who still question it, like Carol does. Wake up people.
Why is he involved this much in education?
Carol, why is he involved? WHY shouldn’t he be? What a stupid question to ask, pardon my language, when our education system is failing. Our system is leaking right down into the sewage. We are fortunate finally to have someone in the government who cares about education.