Vice President Joe Biden talks with children in Mrs. Keebaugh's 4th grade classroom at Goode Elementary School in York, Pennsylvania, October 18, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Lenid Keebaugh is a fourth-grade teacher at Goode Elementary School in York, Pennsylvania. The school was forced to cut 11 of its 45 teachers last year due to budget cuts, and Keebaugh says that passing the American Jobs Act  will help ensure the school is fully staffed to help students succeed.

Keebaugh said that in addition to cutting grade level teachers, the school also lost all its special subject teachers—those who teach enrichment classes like music, art, and physical education. As a result, the remaining teachers must teach larger classes, and have less time to plan and discuss student progress, which previously took place during enrichment periods. With greater demands on their teachers’ time, students receive less attention and support in the classroom. Besides threatening the students’ academic success, Keebaugh said that the cuts mean they are missing out on things like physical education, which helps teach healthy habits students will carry with them for life.

Vice President Biden spoke at Goode Elementary today to explain how the American Jobs Act would put teachers back in the classroom. The plan includes funding to support 400,000 teaching jobs, including protecting up to 280,000 teachers who are at risk of being laid off due to state and local budget cuts as well as rehiring tens of thousands of teachers who have lost their jobs in the last three years. Putting teachers back in the classrooms does more than create jobs, it helps ensure students are prepared for the future. Keebaugh said that it would be “so fantastic” to get the needed staff back so she and her colleagues can give students the support and attention they need to be successful.

The American Jobs Act will help our schools in other ways, too. The President has proposed a $25 billion investment in school infrastructure that will modernize at least 35,000 public schools. This investment will create jobs while improving classrooms and upgrading our schools to meet 21st century needs. Funds can be used for a range of emergency repair and renovation projects, greening and energy efficiency upgrades, asbestos abatement and removal, and modernization efforts to build new science and computer labs and to upgrade the technology infrastructure in our schools.  

Tomorrow, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden are heading to St. Louis, Missouri for Game One of the World Series. But they aren’t going just to watch a ballgame... 

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden take to the field at Yankee Stadium for game one of the World Series in Bronx, N.Y., Oct. 28, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)

Major League Baseball will dedicate its biggest stage to our service men and women and their families. In concert with Major League Baseball, Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden will be encouraging Americans to recognize and serve veterans, service members and their families as part of their Joining Forces initiative and MLB’s Welcome Back Veterans program. They'll also join representatives from MLB and the St. Louis Cardinals, including Hall of Famer and Army veteran Red Schoendienst, at the St. Louis VA Medical Center for a military family appreciation event.

Before the game, Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden will answer your questions on the Joining Forces initiative and about things you can do in your community to support veterans, active service member and their families.  You can submit a question for the First Lady and Dr. Biden now on facebook or on Twitter using the hashtag #AskMichelle.

Also, stay tuned during the game for the debut of a new Joining Forces and MLB Public Service Announcement featuring the First Lady along with New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira and Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Johnny Damon, both who come from military families.  The PSA will be shown in the ballpark, on MLB.com and the MLB Network.  If you miss it, visit JoiningForces.gov after the game to watch.

On January 18, President Obama called for an unprecedented and ambitious government-wide “lookback” at federal regulations. The lookback requires all agencies to reexamine their significant rules and to streamline, reduce, improve, or eliminate them. 

A few months ago, and after consulting with the public, over two dozen departments and agencies released plans to remove what the President has called “absurd and unnecessary paperwork requirements that waste time and money.” And we’re continuing our work to identify and eliminate regulations that don’t make sense.

Just a small fraction of our burden-reducing reforms promise billions of dollars in savings over the next five years. And many of these changes overlap with the recent recommendations of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

Today, one part of this larger effort is moving forward. The Department of Health and Human Services is announcing three sets of important reforms that are expected to save more than $1 billion every year in health care overhead and paperwork costs. These reforms are aimedat reducing unnecessary, obsolete, or burdensome regulations on American hospitals and healthcare providers.  

Ed. Note: Cross-posted from the USDA blog.

Given that many children eat as many as two meals a day at school, it’s pretty clear that schools have a vital role to play if we’re going to combat the disturbing rise in childhood obesity we’ve seen in recent years. Just as clear is that schools participating in USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge honored at the White House this week demonstrate the kind of deep commitment needed to create and maintain a healthy school environment. These schools are leaders that set an example for schools across the country.

The HealthierUS School Challenge is a key component of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative to end childhood obesity within a generation. In February 2010, USDA and the First Lady called on stakeholders to double the number of Challenge schools in a year  a goal reached in June  and add 1,000 schools per year for two years after that.

The 1,273 challenge schools honored at the White House on Monday voluntarily agreed to provide healthy meals based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, including a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole-grain foods, and fat-free or low fat milk.  Challenge schools also have to do what schools do best: They have to teach their students what it means to eat smart.  They have to ensure that kids take part in regular physical activity. To achieve that goal some schools offer creative options, such as supporting walking clubs and community-sponsored sports tournaments, or by just keeping a basket of simple items available for students to use during recess, such as jump ropes or hula hoops.

First Lady Michelle Obama and USDA believe that schools can take a leadership role in helping students learn to make healthier eating and active lifestyle choices that will result in healthier children and young adults. Knowing how and why to eat smart is important, but a good diet must be balanced with adequate physical activity to maintain good health.

First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks on Healthier U.S. Schools Challenge at the South Portico of the White House, Oct. 17, 2011. With Mrs. Obama on stage are; Alex Roman, 12, from Walsh Elementary School in Chicago, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and Becke Bounds, Child Nutrition Director, Lamar County School District, in Mississippi. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the American Jobs Act at West Wilkes High School in Millers Creek, North Carolina, Oct. 17, 2011 (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

In 1976, President Gerald Ford visited West Wilkes High School aboard Marine One, the presidential helicopter. Today, President Obama dropped in by presidential bus -- as part of the American Jobs Act Bus Tour.

West Wilkes High School is in Millers Creek, North Carolina -- a small town located about 60 miles west of Winston-Salem. On Sunday, more than 1,000 residents lined up for tickets, which were distributed by local volunteers.

Wilkes County is home to around 70,000 North Carolinians and is the birthplace of NASCAR. North Wilkesboro Speedway was home to the first ever NASCAR-certified race on October 16, 1949.

President Obama arrived at the school gymnasium just after 5:00 ET. He was introduced by Dr. Stephen Laws -- the superintendent of Wilkes County Schools -- who thanked the President for the Recovery Act, which he said "saved this country." While the school system is currently operating with more than 100 fewer teachers and administrators than were employed before the recession, Dr. Laws said, not a single teacher has been laid off because of the crisis.

Earlier today, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced an agreement with CTIA-The Wireless Association under which users of cell phones, smart phones, and other wireless devices will receive automatic alerts before triggering overage charges for exceeding usage caps. We’ve all read about consumers who were surprised to receive bills in the hundreds or thousands of dollars after they or their family members unknowingly exceeded their limits. The FCC and others heard the difficulty consumers were having in recalling the details of their plans or tracking their wireless usage.

“Far too many Americans know what it’s like to open up their cell-phone bill and be shocked by hundreds or even thousands of dollars in unexpected fees and charges," said President Barack Obama. "But we can put an end to that with a simple step: an alert warning consumers that they’re about to hit their limit before fees and charges add up. Our phones shouldn’t cost us more than the monthly rent or mortgage. So I appreciate the mobile phone companies’ willingness to work with my Administration and join us in our overall and ongoing efforts to protect American consumers by making sure financial transactions are fair, honest and transparent.”

Equally impressive is how the parties reached agreement. The FCC led a collaborative effort to strengthen the wireless industry’s voluntary code of conduct and will hold it accountable through a website to be designed with input from stakeholders, including Consumers Union.

It is one more example of the Obama Administration’s commitment to smart disclosure – a low-cost, high-impact regulatory tool featured in the National Action Plan for Open Government the President announced last month – and the use of multi-stakeholder collaboration as noted in a recent OECD agreement on Internet Policymaking Principles.

Today’s announcement is the latest in a series of consumer protections that harness the power and potential of technology, data, and innovation.  From the model privacy notice for personal health records vendors, to a mobile app that accesses food, drug, auto, and product recalls data, to the forthcoming final opportunity to join over 20,000 people that have already “crowd sourced” feedback on a new mortgage disclosure form that should help Americans pick the product that is right for you.

Congratulations to CTIA-The Wireless Association and its members, the FCC, Consumers Union, and other stakeholders for working together to provide this important service that will help educate consumers and empower them to save money.

Ed. Note: Cross-posted from Treasury Notes.

In the fall of 2008, a financial crisis of a scale and severity not seen in generations left millions of Americans unemployed and resulted in trillions in lost wealth. Our broken financial regulatory system was a principal cause of that crisis. It was fragmented, antiquated, and allowed large parts of the financial system to operate with little or no oversight.

Today, our most important challenge is creating stronger economic growth and helping the millions of Americans who lost their jobs get back to work. As part of that effort, we are committed to implementing new rules that will build a safer, more stable financial system—one that provides a robust foundation for lasting economic growth and job creation.

In order to achieve these goals, and help protect our economy from future crises, we must continue with the implementation of Wall Street Reform. However, more than a year after the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, opposition to reform persists.   

Opponents are voicing a wide range of criticisms in a concerted effort to slow down, weaken, or roll back reform. Their arguments are misguided. This week, we’ll be taking a look on this blog at what those critics are saying—and rebutting their claims one by one. We begin this series by addressing one of the key misconceptions surrounding reform—its impact on small banks.

The first stop on the American Jobs Act Bus Tour was Asheville, North Carolina, a city of 76,000 located in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Air Force One landed at Asheville Regional Airport, where President Obama was greeted by Senator Kay Hagan and Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy. He spoke just before 11:00.

The American Jobs Act includes a proposal to provide $2 billion to improve safety, add capacity and modernize infrastructure at airports across the country .

Asheville Regional Airport could be eligible for $60 million of those funds. And as the President said, there's plenty of work to go around:

In this airport right here in Asheville, you've got a runway that needs to be widened and repaired. You've got a taxiway that's in the wrong spot –- which means that planes sometimes get too close together. So we could be doing some work right here at the Asheville Airport that would help boost tourism, help to boost the economy here, put people to work right now.

But it's not just here in Asheville. All across the state, you've got highways that need to be built. You've got bridges that need to be fixed. You've got schools that need to be modernized. And that's what America used to do best. We used to build things -- built the Transcontinental Railroad; built the Golden Gate Bridge; the Hoover Dam; the Grand Central Station. There's no reason why we should sit here and watch the best highways and the newest airports being built in China. We should be building them right here in the United States of America. Right here in North Carolina.

This afternoon, the President will stop for a BBQ lunch and later visit West Wilkes High School in Miller's Creek, North Carolina.

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the American Jobs Act at Asheville Regional Airport, Asheville, N.C., Oct. 17, 2011. The event kicks off the President’s three-day American Jobs Act Bus Tour. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, daughters Sasha and Malia, and Marian Robinson tour the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial before the dedication ceremony in Washington, D.C., Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Today, nearly half a century after Martin Luther King, Jr. led the historic March on Washington for equality, tens of thousands came to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Dedication. The memorial to Dr. King has been open since August, but the dedication was delayed due to Hurricane Irene. As President Obama said, though delayed, "this is a day that would not be denied."

President Obama, joined by the First Family, toured the memorial and then spoke at the dedication ceremony in honor of Dr. King's work to make his dream a reality for all. During his speech, President Obama reminded us that the progress towards Dr. King's vision has not come easily and there is still more to do to expand opportunity and make our nation more just:

Our work is not done.  And so on this day, in which we celebrate a man and a movement that did so much for this country, let us draw strength from those earlier struggles.  First and foremost, let us remember that change has never been quick.  Change has never been simple, or without controversy.  Change depends on persistence.  Change requires determination.  It took a full decade before the moral guidance of Brown v. Board of Education was translated into the enforcement measures of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, but those 10 long years did not lead Dr. King to give up.  He kept on pushing, he kept on speaking, he kept on marching until change finally came. 

And then when, even after the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act passed, African Americans still found themselves trapped in pockets of poverty across the country, Dr. King didn’t say those laws were a failure; he didn’t say this is too hard; he didn’t say, let’s settle for what we got and go home.  Instead he said, let’s take those victories and broaden our mission to achieve not just civil and political equality but also economic justice; let’s fight for a living wage and better schools and jobs for all who are willing to work.  In other words, when met with hardship, when confronting disappointment, Dr. King refused to accept what he called the “isness” of today.  He kept pushing towards the “oughtness” of tomorrow.

And so, as we think about all the work that we must do –- rebuilding an economy that can compete on a global stage, and fixing our schools so that every child -- not just some, but every child -- gets a world-class education, and making sure that our health care system is affordable and accessible to all, and that our economic system is one in which everybody gets a fair shake and everybody does their fair share, let us not be trapped by what is.  We can’t be discouraged by what is.  We’ve got to keep pushing for what ought to be, the America we ought to leave to our children, mindful that the hardships we face are nothing compared to those Dr. King and his fellow marchers faced 50 years ago, and that if we maintain our faith, in ourselves and in the possibilities of this nation, there is no challenge we cannot surmount.