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AnindyaKundu_2019S-_美国公共教育中的“机会差距”——以及如何消除它_-
My first job out of college was as an academic researcher at one of the largest juvenile detention centers in the country. 我大学毕业后的第一份工作是在 一所全国最大的青少年拘留所 做学术研究员。
academic:adj.学术的;理论的;学院的;n.大学生,大学教师;学者; juvenile:adj.青少年的;幼稚的;n.青少年;少年读物; detention:n.拘留;延迟;挽留;
And every day I would drive to this building on the West Side of Chicago, go through the security checkpoint and walk down these brown, brick hallways as I made my way down to the basement to observe the intake process . 每天我驾车来到这座 位于芝加哥西边的建筑, 穿过安全检查点, 然后沿着棕色的砖砌走廊 往下走,去地下室 观察录入的过程。
checkpoint:n.检查站,关卡; hallways:n.(美)走廊;门厅(hallway的复数); observe:v.观察;看到;庆祝;监视; intake:n.摄取量;通风口;引入口;引入的量; process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的;
The kids coming in were about 10 to 16 years old, usually always black and brown, most likely from the same impoverished South and West Sides of Chicago. 进来的孩子大约 10-16 岁, 通常是黑色和棕色皮肤, 大部分来自芝加哥南部 和西部的贫困地区。
impoverished:adj.穷困的;用尽了的,无创造性的;v.使贫困(impoverish的过去分词);
They should've been in fifth to tenth grade, but instead they were here for weeks on end awaiting trial for various crimes. 他们本应该在上学 读 5-10 年级, 但现实是 他们要在这里呆上几周, 等待各种罪行的审判。
awaiting:v.等候;等待;期待;将发生在,将降临到(某人头上);(await的现在分词)
Some of them came back to the facility 14 times before their 15th birthday. 有些人在 15 岁生日前 已经进出这里 14 次。
facility:n.设施;设备;特别装置;特色;场所;天资;
And as I sat there on the other side of the glass from them, idealistic with a college degree, 隔着玻璃, 当我坐在他们的另一边, 本科毕业的我带着一种理想主义,
on the other side:另一面;在另一边; idealistic:adj.理想主义的;唯心论的;唯心主义者的;空想家的;
I wondered to myself: 不禁纳闷:
Why didn't schools do something more to prevent this from happening? 为什么学校不采取更多行动 去阻止这些事情的发生呢？
It's been about 10 years since then, and I still think about how some kids get tracked towards college and others towards detention, but I no longer think about schools' abilities to solve these things. 10 年后, 我仍在思考为何有些孩子能上大学, 而有些孩子却去了拘留所, 但我不再去质疑学校 解决这些问题的能力。
tracked:v.跟踪;追踪;(track的过去分词和过去式)
You see, I've learned that so much of this problem is systemic that often our school system perpetuates the social divide. 我了解到,这个问题 在很大程度上是制度性的, 是我们的学校制度 造成了社会分化。
systemic:adj.系统的;全身的;体系的; perpetuates:vt.使不朽;保持;adj.长存的;
It makes worse what it's supposed to fix. 它让本应解决的问题变得更糟了。
supposed:adj.误信的;所谓的;v.认为;假设;设想;(suppose的过去分词和过去式)
That's as crazy or controversial as saying that our health care system isn't preventative but somehow profits off of keeping us sick ... 这就像说我们的 医疗保健系统不是预防性的, 而是从让我们生病中获利 一样疯狂或有争议。
controversial:adj.有争议的;有争论的; health care:n.卫生保健; preventative:n.预防法;预防物;adj.预防性的;防止的; somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地; profits:n.利润; v.获益; (profit的第三人称单数和复数)
oops. 哎呀,好像不该这么说。
(Laughter) （笑声）
I truly do believe though that kids can achieve great things despite the odds against them, and in fact, my own research shows that. 我真心认为,尽管困难重重 那些孩子依然可以有出色的表现, 并且事实上,我自己 的研究也显示了这点。
despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱; odds:n.几率;胜算;不平等;差别;
But if we're serious about helping more kids from across the board to achieve and make it in this world, we're going to have to realize that our gaps in student outcomes are not so much about achievement as much as they are about opportunity. 但是如果我们真的想要 帮助更多的孩子 在这个世界上取得成功, 我们就需要意识到学生 学习成果的差距 与其说是在于成就, 不如说是来自于机会。
across the board:全面地,整体地; gaps:n.差异,缺口;缝隙(gap的复数形式);v.裂开;使豁裂(gap的第三人称单数形式); outcomes:n.结果;成果;后果;出路;(outcome的复数)
A 2019 EdBuild report showed that majority-white districts receive about 23 billion dollars more in annual funding than nonwhite districts, even though they serve about the same number of students. 一份 2019 年的 EdBuild 报告显示, 白人为主的街区每年获得 的教育经费比非白人街区 要多 230 亿美元, 即便它们所服务的学生数量一样。
annual:n.年报;年鉴;年刊;adj.每年的;年度的;一年的; funding:n.基金;资金;提供资金;v.为…提供资金;拨款给;(fund的现在分词) nonwhite:adj.非白人的;n.非白人;
Lower resource schools are dealing with lower quality equipment, obsolete technology and paying teachers way less. 资源少的学校用低质量的设施, 陈旧的技术, 并且教师的工资更低。
resource:n.资源;资料;才智;财力;v.向…提供资金(或设备); obsolete:adj.废弃的;老式的;n.废词;陈腐的人;vt.淘汰;废弃; technology:n.技术;工艺;术语;
Here in New York, those are also the schools most likely to serve the one in 10 elementary school students who will most likely have to sleep in a homeless shelter tonight. 在纽约, 这些学校也是最有可能给 今晚最有可能睡在收容所的 那十分之一的学生服务的。
elementary school:小学;
The student, parent and teacher are dealing with a lot. 学生,家长和教师要处理很多事情。
Sometimes places are misplacing the blame back on them. 有时候教育机构会把责任推给他们。
misplacing:vt.放错地方;忘记把…放在什么地方;错误地信任某人;
In Atlanta , we saw that teachers felt desperate enough to have to help their students cheat on standardized tests that would impact their funding. 在亚特兰大,我们发现, 教师已经绝望到 去帮助他们的学生在 标准考试中作弊, 因为后者会影响教育资金。
Atlanta:n.亚特兰大(美国城市); desperate:adj.不顾一切的;令人绝望的;极度渴望的; standardized:adj.标准的; v.使合乎标准; impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响;
Eight of them went to jail for that in 2015 with some sentences as high as 20 years, which is more than what many states give for second-degree murder. 2015 年,有 8 个人为此进了监狱, 有些被判处高达 20 年的刑期, 这比许多州二级谋杀的刑罚还久。
jail:n.监狱;监牢;拘留所;v.监禁;下狱; second-degree:adj.二等的;烧伤程度的第二度的;
The thing is though, in places like Tulsa , teachers' pay has been so bad that these people have had to go to food pantries or soup kitchens just to feed themselves. 问题是,在塔尔萨这样的地方, 教师的薪酬非常糟糕, 他们不得不去免费食品分发处 或施粥处讨饭,才能养活自己。
Tulsa:n.塔尔萨(美国俄克拉菏马州东北部城市); pantries:n.餐具室;食品室;食品储藏室;
The same system will criminalize a parent who will use a relative's address to send their child to a better school, but for who knows how long authorities have turned a blind eye to those who can bribe their way onto the most elite and beautiful college campuses . 同样的制度也会唆使父母犯罪, 使用位于好学区亲戚的地址 帮助孩子上更好的学校, 但谁知道当局对那些 能够通过贿赂进入 最优秀、最美丽的大学校园 的人视而不见多久了。
criminalize:vt.宣告…为犯法行为;判定…为非法事件; authorities:n.权力;威权;职权;批准;(authority的复数) a blind eye to:对…装作不见; bribe:v.贿赂,收买;n.贿赂; elite:n.精英;精华;杰出人物; campuses:(大学)校园;大学;校园内的草地(campuse的复数);
And a lot of this feels pretty heavy to be saying -- and maybe to be hearing -- and since there's nothing quite like economics talk to lighten the mood -- that's right, right? 这些话说起来让人感觉很沉重—— 可能听起来也是如此—— 因为没有什么比经济学演讲 更能让人放松心情了—— 是吧？
lighten:v.减轻;减轻重量;变成淡色;(使)感到不那么悲伤(或担忧、严肃); mood:n.情绪,语气;心境;气氛;
Let me tell you about some of the costs when we fail to tap into our students' potential . 让我们来告诉你们, 当我们不能挖掘学生的潜力时, 要付出怎样的代价。
potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的;
A McKinsey study showed that if in 1998 we could've closed our long-standing student achievement gaps between students of different ethnic backgrounds or students of different income levels, by 2008, our GDP -- our untapped economic gains -- could have gone up by more than 500 billion dollars. 麦肯锡的一项研究表明, 如果在 1998 年, 我们可以缩小长期 存在于不同种族 或者不同收入水平 的学生之间的成就差距, 到 2008 年,我们的 GDP—— 我们未开发的经济收益—— 能够增长超过 5 千亿美元。
long-standing:adj.长期存在的;存在已久的; ethnic:adj.种族的;人种的; untapped:adj.未开发的;未使用的;塞子未开的; economic:adj.经济的,经济上的;经济学的;
Those same gaps in 2008, between our students here in the US and those across the world, may have deprived our economy of up to 2.3 trillion dollars of economic output . 2008年,美国的学生 和世界其他地方的学生 之间同样的差距, 可能会剥夺我们 高达 2.3 万亿美元的经济产出。
deprived:adj.缺少食物的;缺乏足够教育的; economy:n.经济;节约;理财; trillion:n.[数]万亿;adj.万亿的;num.[数]万亿; output:n.(人、机器、机构的)产量;输出;输出功率;输出量;v.输出;
But beyond economics, numbers and figures, 但除了经济学,数字和数量,
I think there's a simpler reason that this matters, a simpler reason for fixing our system. 我认为说这一点很重要, 还有一个更简单的原因, 这一简单的原因就可以 修复我们的系统。
It's that in a true democracy , like the one we pride ourselves on having -- and sometimes rightfully so -- a child's future should not be predetermined by the circumstances of their birth. 那就是在一个真正的民主社会, 就如我们自豪所拥有的—— 有时候是理所当然的—— 孩子的未来不应该取决于 他们出生的环境。
democracy:n.民主,民主主义;民主政治; rightfully:adv.正当地;正直地; predetermined:adj.业已决定的;先已决定的;v.已决定的(predetermine的过去式和过去分词); circumstances:n.情况;环境;情形;(circumstance的复数)
A public education system should not create a wider bottom and more narrow top. 公共教育体系不应该 创造一个金字塔模式。
narrow:adj.狭窄的; v.使窄小; n.峡谷; (场所,物品等的)狭窄部分;
Some of us can sometimes think that these things aren't that close to home , but they are if we broaden our view, because a leaky faucet in our kitchen, broken radiator in our hallway, 我们有些人可能会认为 这些事情离我们不是特别近, 但如果我们开拓视野, 就会发现它们近在咫尺, 因为厨房的水龙头漏水, 走廊的散热器坏了,
close to home:触及痛处; broaden:v.加宽;变宽;(broaden的现在分词) leaky:adj.漏的;有漏洞的; faucet:n.旋塞;插口; radiator:n.散热器;暖气片;辐射体;
those parts of the house that we always say we're going to get to next week, they're devaluing our whole property. 我们总是说我们下周会进行维修, 但它们正在让我们 的整个财产贬值。
devaluing:vt.使贬值;降低…的价值;vi.贬值;
Instead of constantly looking away to solutions like privatization or the charter school movement to solve our problems, why don't we take a deeper look at public education, try to take more pride in it and maybe use it to solve some of our social problems. 与其总是寻找诸如私有化 或者特许学校运动来 解决我们的问题, 我们为什么不深入审视尝试去 引以为豪的公共教育, 并且用它来解决 我们的一部分社会问题呢？
constantly:adv.不断地;时常地; privatization:n.私有化; charter:n.章程; v.包租(飞机、船等);
Why don't we try to reclaim the promise of public education and remember that it's our greatest collective responsibility? 我们为什么不重申公共教育的愿景 并牢记这是我们最重要的集体责任呢？
reclaim:v.开拓;回收再利用;改造某人,使某人悔改;n.改造,感化;再生胶; collective:adj.集体的;共同的;集合的;集体主义的;n.集团;集合体;集合名词;
Luckily some of our communities are doing just that. 幸运的是,我们有些社团正在这样做。
communities:n.社区;社会;团体;共有(community的复数)
The huge teacher strikes in the spring of 2019 in Denver and LA -- they were successful because of community support for things like smaller class sizes 2019 年春天,在丹佛和洛杉矶 的大型教师罢工—— 这些运动之所以成功, 是因为社区支持这些诉求: 例如更小的班级,
Denver:n.丹佛(地名,美国城市); community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体;
and getting things into schools like more counselors in addition to teacher pay. 招募更多的辅导员, 还有提高教师的工资。
counselors:n.辅导员;顾问(counselor的复数形式); in addition to:除…之外;
And sometimes for the student, innovation is just daring to implement common sense . 有时候对于学生而言, 创新就是敢于实践常识。
innovation:n.创新,革新;新方法; implement:v.实施;执行;贯彻;使生效;n.工具; common sense:adj.常识的;有生活经验得来的;
In Baltimore a few years ago, they enacted a free breakfast and lunch program, taking away the stigma of poverty and hunger for some students but increasing achievement in attendance for many others. 几年前在巴尔的摩, 他们制定了一个免费 的早餐和午餐计划, 为一些学生消除贫穷 和饥饿的耻辱, 但也增加了其他人的出勤率。
Baltimore:n.巴尔的摩(美国一座港市); enacted:n.制定,颁布; stigma:n.[植]柱头;耻辱;污名;烙印;特征; poverty:n.贫困;困难;缺少;低劣; attendance:n.出席;到场;出席人数;
And in Memphis , the university is recruiting local, passionate high school students and giving them scholarships to go teach in the inner city without the burden of college debt . 在孟菲斯, 大学正在招募当地热情的高中生, 给他们奖学金, 让他们去市中心教书, 而不用承担大学的债务。
Memphis:n.孟斐斯(古埃及城市,废墟在今开罗之南);孟菲斯市(美国田纳西州城市名); recruiting:v.吸收(新成员);征募(新兵);动员;(recruit的现在分词) passionate:adj.热情的;热烈的,激昂的;易怒的; scholarships:n.奖学金;学问;学术;学术研究;(scholarship的复数) inner city:n.(居民拥挤,住屋破旧的)市中心平民区;adj.市中心的; burden:n.负担;责任;船的载货量;v.使负担;烦扰;装货于; debt:n.债务;借款;罪过;
And north of here in The Bronx , 在布朗克斯的北边,
Bronx:n.布朗克斯(纽约市最北端的一区);布朗克斯鸡尾酒;
I recently researched these partnerships being built between high schools, community colleges and local businesses who are creating internships in finance , health care and technology for students without " silver spoon" connections to gain important skills and contribute to the communities that they come from. 我最近研究了在高中,社区学院 和本地商家之间建立 的合作伙伴关系, 他们为那些没有黄金人脉 的学生创造金融、 医疗和科技方面的实习机会, 去获得重要技能, 并为他们所在的社区做贡献。
recently:adv.最近;新近; partnerships:n.伙伴关系;合伙;(partnership的复数) internships:n.实习(internship的复数);见习; finance:n.财政,财政学;金融;v.负担经费,供给…经费; silver:n.银; v.给…镀(或包)银; adj.银色的; contribute to:有助于;捐献;
So today I don't necessarily have the same questions about education that I did when I was an idealistic, perhaps na?ve college grad working in a detention center basement. 所以今天,我不再抱有曾经 那种我还在看守所地下室工作时 充满理想主义,可能还有些 学生气的关于教育的问题。
necessarily:adv.必要地;必定地,必然地; grad:n.毕业生;校友;
It's not: Can schools save more of our students? 问题不再是关于:学校可以 拯救更多的学生吗？
Because I think we have the answer to that -- and it's yes they can, if we save our schools first. 因为我认为我们已经有了答案—— 是的,可以,如果我们 首先拯救我们的学校。
We can start by caring about the education of other people's children ... 我们可以从关心别人孩子 的教育开始…
And I'm saying that as someone who doesn't have kids yet but wants to worry a little bit less about the future when I do. 虽然我还没有小孩, 但我这样说,也是希望 在未来不必那么担心。
Cultivating as much talent as possible, getting as many girls as we can from all over into science and engineering , as many boys as we can into teaching -- those are investments for our future. 培养尽可能多的人才, 从各地吸引尽可能多的女孩子进入 科学和工程领域, 就如我们可以 让男孩们从事教育一样—— 这些是对我们未来的投资。
Cultivating:v.培养(cultivate的现在分词); engineering:n.工程;工程学;v.密谋策划;设计制造;改变…的基因;(engineer的现在分词) investments:n.[经]投资,投资的财产;投资学;(investment的复数)
Our students are like our most valuable resource, and when you put it that way, our teachers are like our modern-day diamond and gold miners , hoping to help make them shine. 我们的学生就像我们 最有价值的资源, 当你把他们放在那个位置时, 我们的老师就像现代 的钻石和黄金矿工, 希望帮助学生们发光。
valuable:adj.有价值的;贵重的;可估价的;n.贵重物品; modern-day:adj.当代的;今日的; miners:n.[矿业]矿工(miner的复数);煤矿工人;
Let's contribute our voices, our votes and our support to giving them the resources that they will need not just to survive but hopefully thrive , allowing all of us to do so as well. 让我们发出自己的声音, 不再吝啬我们的投票和支持, 给予他们所需的资源, 不仅是为了生存, 更是为了繁荣, 让我们所有人都能这样做。
resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数); thrive:v.繁荣;茁壮成长;蓬勃发展;兴旺发达;
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause and cheers) （鼓掌和欢呼）