During a speech in Rhode Island today, President Obama stressed the importance of public pre-school in America, pointing out that the cost of daycare was getting too high.

Obama explained that in many states it cost parents more money to put their kids in day care than it cost to put them in a public university.

Because America lacks public pre-school, Obama said, women often earned less money than men.

Creating public pre-school, Obama explained, was not only “good for families” but “good for the children.”

Obama said that he understood the difficulties of working parents, pointing out that when he and First Lady Michelle Obama were younger, it was difficult to raise a family while struggling to balance two careers.