[ti:Biden Proposes Making Preschool Free for Children] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:02.40]American President Joe Biden is making childcare [00:06.68]and education a major concern of his administration. [00:12.56]In his first address to a joint session of Congress on April 29, [00:17.80]Biden proposed a $1.8 trillion spending plan [00:23.80]to expand government support for children, families and education. [00:30.16]The plan, called American Families Plan, [00:33.56]includes $200 billion for free pre-school for 3 and 4-year-olds. [00:41.60]The president said, "research shows when a young child goes to school [00:46.96]— not daycare — they are far more likely to graduate from high school [00:51.96]and go to college or something after high school." [00:56.56]He added, "no matter what background they come from, [01:00.20]it puts them in the position to be able to compete [01:04.00]all the way through 12 years." [01:07.28]Preschool, also known as pre-kindergarten or pre-K, [01:11.76]is a program to help children [01:14.08]with the beginning steps of learning and socializing. [01:18.76]Daycare centers focus more on caring for children than learning. [01:24.80]Rebecca Anguiano teaches preschool [01:28.08]at an elementary school in Washington, D.C. [01:32.28]The classes are bilingual. [01:34.76]They are taught in both English and Spanish. [01:39.24]She said students who attend two years of preschool [01:42.40]have done better than those who have not. [01:46.40]Anguiano said, "If they miss those two years, [01:50.12]it's kind of catch-me-up for them. [01:53.72]I definitely feel that starting early [01:56.52]—especially at a bilingual school [01:59.20]—is key for a lot of success." [02:03.48]The National Institute for Early Education Research [02:07.40]says, at this time, only four American states [02:12.00]and Washington, D.C., spend enough money [02:15.60]to support preschool programs. [02:19.04]The nation's capital spends the most money per preschool student. [02:24.20]It also has the highest percentage of students in pre-K classes. [02:30.52]Seventy-nine percent of 3 and 4-year-olds [02:33.52]attend preschool in Washington, DC. [02:37.40]And nationwide, just 20 percent attend. [02:41.60]Washington is one of the most expensive cities to raise a child. [02:47.00]A 2018 study says childcare in the city [02:50.88]can cost up to $2,000 per month for each child. [02:56.36]In some places, parents choose to stay home with their children [03:00.24]instead of having a job and paying for care. [03:04.72]In 2018, research from the Center for American Progress [03:09.36]showed that about 10 percent more mothers entered the workforce [03:13.68]after the city started its preschool program. [03:18.00]Student test scores have also gone up since the change. [03:23.96]That year, Washington schools were among the few across the nation [03:28.28]to see an increase in math and reading scores. [03:32.68]Josh Axelrod has two children attending preschool in Washington, D.C. [03:38.72]He said the program is a "huge benefit" to living in the city. [03:44.72]"Our experience... has been great," he added. [03:48.40]Washington's preschool program is not without its problems, however. [03:54.24]Many elementary schools in the city do not offer preschool [03:58.16]and some programs are better than others. [04:02.00]There is also a very high demand for some preschool spots, [04:05.80]which means that some children will not be placed into their neighborhood school. [04:11.24]Others are not placed at all. [04:13.68]Biden's proposal comes at a time [04:16.48]when preschool attendance has fallen [04:18.84]by 25 percent in the past year, largely due to the pandemic. [04:25.84]The administration says free preschool nationwide [04:30.00]could save the average American family $13,000 [04:34.64]and benefit 5 million children. [04:38.00]And it proposes to pay for the plan [04:41.32]by raising taxes on wealthy Americans. [04:45.12]Republican opponents to the idea say it costs too much [04:49.32]and that families will be making childcare decisions [04:52.72]based on what the government wants. [04:56.24]For the plan to pass, the president will need Republican support [05:00.12]in an evenly divided Senate. [05:03.60]Senator Josh Hawley is a Republican from the state of Missouri. [05:09.04]He shared his opposition in an opinion piece on Fox Business. [05:14.52]"No family should be forced [05:16.40]into a particular childcare arrangement by the government. [05:19.44]And no parent should be treated worse by the tax code [05:23.24]for choosing to do the work of raising kids at home," he wrote. [05:27.88]Anguiano, the Washington, D.C. preschool teacher, [05:31.32]sees universal preschool as a way to improve education equity. [05:37.56]Many families from poorer areas cannot pay for private preschool, she said, [05:43.12]keeping children away from school and parents away from working. [05:48.32]"I think expanding this nationwide, you will most definitely see [05:52.64]not just an educational benefit for kids, [05:56.04]but an economic benefit for families," Anguiano said. [06:01.68]I'm Jill Robbins. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM