Obama: Education Key to US Competitiveness

February 18, 2011

President Barack Obama is greeted by Intel CEO Paul Otellini after touring an Intel facility in Hillsboro, Ore., February 18, 2011

Obama's visit to Intel, and private talks the previous day with technology business leaders, were part of his drive to underscore the private sector role in driving economic recovery and highlight the role of education in American competitiveness.

After touring Intel's advanced semiconductor facility with CEO Paul Otellini, the president returned to a major theme of his State of the Union Address - that future economic strength depends on making America's education system competitive with other nations.

Even as Americans learn to "live within [their] means" in fiscal terms, Obama said, the nation has no choice but to invest in the future, and that means focusing "like a laser" on education.

"We can’t win the future if we lose the race to educate our children. Can’t do it. In today’s economy, the quality of a nation’s education is one of the biggest predictors of a nation’s success. It is what will determine whether the American Dream survives."

The president said education, and investment in research and development, are key to a future in which technological innovations begin in the United States rather than overseas.

"If we want the next technological breakthrough that leads to the next Intel, to happen here in the United States - not in China or not in Germany, but here in the United States - then we have to invest in America’s research and technology; in the work of our scientists and our engineers."