Promoting jobs bill in Denver, Obama highlights $60 billion for schools

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Source: The Washington Post

DENVER — As he has barnstormed the country to promote the American Jobs Act, President Obama has made the case that spending money now will pay off later for the United States’ global productivity and competitiveness. And one of the biggest investments he is proposing comes in education.

Obama’s $447 billion jobs package includes $30 billion to renovate high schools and community colleges nationwide, and an additional $30 billion to help local jurisdictions hire and retain teachers.

On Tuesday, Obama wrapped up a three-day, three-state western swing by rallying students and teachers at Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver, his latest method of highlighting the education proposals and putting public pressure on congressional Republicans to support the jobs bill.

“Places like South Korea are adding teachers in droves to prepare their kids for the global economy. We’re laying ours off left and right,” Obama told students and teachers in the school’s parking lot. “All across the country, budget cuts are forcing superintendents to make choices they don’t want to make. . . . It’s unfair to our kids; it undermines their future; it has to stop.”

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house/promoting-jobs-bill-in-denver-obama-highlights-60-billion-for-schools/2011/09/27/gIQAgw442K_story.html