Politics. On Point.

Students were treated to an additional dose of awesomeness Thursday with an unexpected visit by the President of the United States to the East Room of the White House during the late afternoon Reach Higher ,  Beat the Odds  late afternoon session. President Obama makes a surprise visit to speak to students at Thursday's Reach Higher college and education event. Photo/Politics. On Point. The visit helped culminate the first lady's day-long summit that included discussion on attending post-secondary education, preparing for job interviews, and serious talk about making dreams come true. "I understand you spent some time with the true star of the Obama household, the First Lady of the United States", the president said, "but I'm not going to let her have all the fun." The president took to the stage, amid cheers and applause, telling the assembled youth ,"America succeeds only when every young person in America is able to dream big and have ...

Vice President Biden Scheduled to Celebrate The One-Year Anniversary With Visit To Delaware High School On Monday, March 21st, nearly a year after the U.S. Department of Education announced that Delaware was awarded over $100 million in Race to the Top funding, Vice President Biden will visit Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington, Delaware, with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. As one of the first four schools in Delaware to receive Race to the Top assistance, Howard High School has made significant progress, launching a transformation plan that will be fully implemented in the 2011-2012 school year. The Vice President and Secretary Duncan will highlight key areas of Race to the Top achievement at Howard High School and across the state, as well as the success of teacher collaboration in Delaware. They will also discuss how winning the future in education will continue to require investments that promote a shared responsibility among everyone involved; reform at the ...

This week President Obama issued a Read Across America Day proclamation   that stated: Hidden in the pages of books are extraordinary worlds and characters that can spark creativity and imagination, and unlock the potential that lies within each of our children. Reading is the foundation upon which all other learning is built, and on Read Across America Day, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting America's next generation of great readers. First Lady Michelle Obama , along with Education Secretary Arne Duncan  spent the morning reading Dr. Seuss classic, Green Eggs and Ham  to hundreds of elementary school students as part of the National Education Association’s 14th annual Read Across America Day. The First Lady emphasized that reading to children is an important part of their growth and development. NEA’s Read Across America, sponsored by the 3.2 million-member National Education Association, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P., and more than 50 national partner organ...

President and Mrs. Obama along with several administration staff members participated in several MLK, Jr. community service projects around the country. The First Family participated in a service event at Stuart Hobson Middle School earlier this morning while the Vice President and  Dr. Biden are participating in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service in Wilmington, DE.  "This is just an outstanding program, an example of what Martin Luther King’s birthday should be all about", said President Obama.   " Michelle and I the girls are extraordinarily proud that each year on Martin Luther King’s birthday this is how we celebrate, is making sure that we're giving a little something back to the community.  And I hope that all the projects that are taking place all across the country on this day are getting similar attention, because this is part of what America is all about.  And after a painful week where so many of us were focused on tragedy, it’s go...

Dr. Jill Biden Holds First-Ever Summit on Community Colleges  All Administration hands on board: Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis (standing) joins Dr. Jill Biden (right) and Melody Barnes, Domestic Policy Adviser and the Director of the Domestic Policy Council, at the White House Summit on Community Colleges. Photo/CD Brown. Dr. Jill Biden, a teacher for nearly three decades, has taught for 17 years at a community college.  She currently teaches at Northern Virginia Community College, and is a champion for community colleges.  "Community colleges are the way to the future", Dr. Biden explained. Seen by some as "baby colleges" by some, the first-ever White House Summit on community colleges focused on bringing together businesses and community colleges and improving partnerships between them. Dr. Biden was asked by the president last year to help promote community colleges. "For more and more people, community colleges are...

President Obama signed an emergency $26 billion jobs bill that the administration claims will save the jobs of 300,000 teachers, police and others service professionals from layoffs. President Obama Signing Jobs Bill. Secretary Arne Duncan (right of president) and two teachers (near right) looks on.  Photo/White House. In a ceremony in the Rose Garden today, President Obama said, "If we do nothing, these educators won’t be returning to the classroom this fall. And that won’t just deprive them of a paycheck, it will deprive the children and parents who are counting on them to provide a decent education." Students in the District of Columbia know that many of their teachers won't be returning to their classrooms this fall.  More than 300 teachers have been fired at the hands of school Chancellor Michelle Rhee who claim the teachers underperformed. In a conference call with reporters late this afternoon Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stated that the jobs bi...

At 1:30 pm, April 20th, Vice President Biden will make an announcement about Title IX at the Charles E. Smith Center at George Washington University . The Vice President will be joined at this event by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Valerie Jarrett, Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls and Senior Advisor to the President. Other speakers include Secretary of Education Arne Duncan , and Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett , Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls. In January of last year, President Obama signed his first bill into law approving the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act , a law named for Ms. Ledbetter an Alabama woman who at the end of a 19-year career as a supervisor in a tire factory complained that she had been paid less than men.

On her return trip from Mexico and Haiti, the First Lady will stop in San Diego, California for an event in support of her Let’s Move! campaign to end childhood obesity within a generation. Continuing her efforts to improve nutrition, encourage healthy eating, and ensure access to fresh and affordable food in all communities, First Lady Michelle Obama will visit a community farm that is supported by the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities Initiative. The Building Healthy Communities Initiative is targeting 14 geographically diverse areas across the state with significant, strategic, and sustained investments to transform these underserved communities into healthy communities. The First Lady will meet with community farmers and volunteers, tour the garden, and give remarks. Video : Ms. Obama on her first solo trip. Earlier this month the First Lady met at the White House with a task force to help determine ways youth and families can learn healthier eatin...

President Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 expanding educational opportunity for America’s students and families. Points of the legislation include larger pell grants , more stable funding for Pell Grants , increased support for Minority Serving Institutions to include Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).   These institutions are particularly hard hit. They account for nearly one-third of all degree-granting institutions and enroll nearly sixty percent of the 4.7 million minority undergraduates in our nation today. They do more with less and enroll higher proportions of low- and middle-income students. The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act provides $2.55 billion in mandatory funding for these institutions – dollars that can be used to renew, reform, and expand programming to ensure that students at these colleges and universities are given every chance to rise to their full potential. The bill also makes r...