President Joe Biden on Feb. 7 devoted about two minutes of his State of the Union address to a handful of education-related issues.
“You know, when we made public education — 12 years of it — universal in the last century, we became the best-educated, best-paid nation in the world,” Biden said. “But the rest of the world has caught up.”
The president then used an expression he attributed to his wife, college professor Dr. Jill Biden: “Any nation that out-educates us is going to outcompete us.”
He continued, “Folks, we all know 12 years of education is not enough to win the economic competition of the 21st century.”
To have the best-educated workforce, Biden added, “let’s finish the job by providing access to preschool for 3- and 4-years-old.”
Among Biden’s other education-related comments:
• “Let’s give public school teachers a raise.”
• “We’re making progress by reducing student debt, increasing Pell grants for working- and middle-class families.”
• “Let’s finish the job and connect students to career opportunities starting in high school. Provide access to two years of community college, the best career training in America, in addition to being a pathway to a four-year degree.”