alyson klein is our guest.n terms of what he laid out in the speech, it seems he went beyond k-12, and then after. can you give us a broad sense of his proposals? guest: president obama said he wants the united states to have the highest number of college graduates by 2020. he said in the state of the union, he made it clear that he believes it begins at the preschool level and it moves all the way for colleges and career. host: in the previous term, k-12 was his main focus. is there any reason he changed his focus? guest: is partly because of the elementary and secondary education act reauthorization has been solved. he needs to get vehicles that he thinks could be moving. host: let's take a look at what the president talked about, specifically his thoughts and proposals on preschool. here is what he had to say. [video clip] >> i propose working with states to make high-quality and affordable preschool available to every single child in america. that is something we should be able to do. [applause] every dolla

america online alyson klein, what do we know how states will be impacted differently. we are seeing breakdowns how the cuts will be spread out throughout the country. >> states that more reliant on federal funds for education, mexico is one example, will feel the pinch more than states that get less federal funding for education like connecticut. host: alyson klein reporter for education week, thanks for joining us this morning. >> also today in washington, chuck hagel was sworn in this morning as defense secretary in a private ceremony with family members and immediate office staff at the pentagon. he later spoke to folks at the pentagon. we'll show that to you later in our program schedule. the supreme court today heard testimony in a case regarding the voting rights act of 1965. "the new york times" reporting on the oral argument today saying a central provision of that voting rights act could be in peril judging from rough or tough questioning today from the supreme court's more conservative members. they write that the law, a landmark achievement of the civil era,