Two years ago, Vice-President Al Gore declared that if elected President he would spend $50 billion a year to offer pre-kindergarten to the country's 8.3 million three- and four-year-olds. With the U.S. at war and George W. Bush in the White House, odds are that Uncle Sam won't be paying to send toddlers to school just yet. But just in the past month, early childhood education has suddenly moved to the political front burner again. In early April, Bush announced that his Administration would begin integrating early literacy skills into the curriculum of Head Start, the federal program that serves poor children. He also earmarked $45 million for research into the most effective techniques for teaching young children. Senators Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio), meanwhile, want to parcel out $1 billion per year over five years to bolster state education programs aimed at kids from infancy to age five.
展开▼
机译：两年前，副总统阿尔·戈尔宣布，如果当选总统，他将每年花费500亿美元，为该国830万三，四岁的孩子提供幼儿园。由于美国处于战争中而白宫的乔治·W·布什（George W.Bush），山姆大叔可能还没有花钱送小孩上学。但是就在过去的一个月中，幼儿教育突然又移到了政治前沿。 4月初，布什宣布他的政府将开始将早期扫盲技能纳入“启蒙计划”的课程中，“启蒙计划”是为贫困儿童提供服务的联邦计划。他还专门拨款4500万美元，用于研究最有效的幼儿教学技术。同时，参议员爱德华·肯尼迪（D-Mass。）和乔治·V·沃伊诺维奇（George V. Voinovich）（R-俄亥俄州）希望在五年内每年拨款10亿美元，以加强针对从婴儿到五岁孩子的国家教育计划。
展开▼
