English subtitles for clip: File:2015-02-14 President Obama's Weekly Address.webm

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The President:
Hi, everybody.

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In my State of
the Union Address,

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I laid out my ideas to
help working families

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feel more secure and earn
the skills required

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to advance in a world
of constant change.

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And in a new economy
that's increasingly

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built on knowledge and
innovation, a core element

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of this middle-class
economics is how well

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we prepare our kids
for the future.

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For decades, we threw money
at education without

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making sure our schools
were actually improving,

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or whether we were giving
teachers the tools they need,

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or whether our taxpayer dollars
were being used effectively.

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And our kids too
often paid the price.

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Now, over the past few years,
we've seen signs that our

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elementary and secondary school
students are doing better.

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Last year, our younger
students earned

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the highest math and
reading scores on record.

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Last week, we learned
that our high school

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graduation rate hit a
new all-time high.

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This is progress.

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But in a 21st century economy,
our kids will only do better

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than we did if we educate them
better than we were educated.

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So we have to do more to
make sure they graduate

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from school fully prepared
for college and a career.

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This year, I want to work
with both parties in Congress

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to replace No Child Left
Behind with a smarter law

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that addresses the overuse
of standardized tests,

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makes a real investment
in preschool,

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and gives every kid a fair
shot in the new economy.

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Now, it's pretty
commonsense that

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an education bill should
actually improve education.

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But as we speak, there's
a Republican bill

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in Congress that would
frankly do the opposite.

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At a time when we should
invest more in our kids,

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their plan would lock
in cuts to schools for

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the rest of this decade.

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We'd end up actually
invest less in our

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kids in 2021 than we
did in 2012.

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At a time when we should give
our teachers all the resources

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they need, their plan could
let states and cities

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shuffle education dollars
into things like sports

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stadiums or tax cuts
for the wealthy.

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At a time when we have to
give every child, everywhere,

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a fair shot - this Congress
would actually allow states

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to make even deeper cuts
into school districts that

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need the most support,
send even more money

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to some of the wealthiest
school districts in America,

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and turn back the clock
to a time when too many

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students were left behind
in failing schools.

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Denying a quality education
to the children of working

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families is as wrong
as denying health care

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or child care to
working families.

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We are better than this.

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I have a different vision
for the middle class.

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In today's world, we have
to equip all our kids

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with an education that
prepares them for

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success, regardless of
what they look like,

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or how much their parents
make, or the zip code

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they live in.

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And that means
trying new things,

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investing in what's working,
and fixing what's not.

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That means cutting testing
down to the bare minimum

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required to make sure
parents and teachers know

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how our kids and schools
are doing from year

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to year, and relative
to schools statewide.

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That means giving the
teachers and principals

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who do the hard work every
day the resources they need

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to spend less time teaching
to a test, and more time

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teaching our kids the
skills they need.

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Some of these
changes are hard.

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They'll require all of us to
demand more of our schools

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and more of our kids,
making sure they put down

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the video games and iPhones,
and pick up the books.

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They'll require us to demand
that Washington treat

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education reform as the
dedicated progress of decades -

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something a town with
a short attention

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span doesn't always
do very well.

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But I'm confident
we can do this.

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When it comes to education,
we are not a collection

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of states competing
against one another;

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we're a nation competing
against the world.

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Nothing will determine
our success as a nation

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in the 21st century more than
how well we educate our kids.

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And we shouldn't accept
anything less than the best.

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So, thanks everybody,
and before I go -

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Happy Valentine's
Day, Michelle.

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Have a great
weekend, everybody.

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Bye-bye.