Obama Tells Students America's Future Depends On Them

President Obama's annual back-to-school speech, delivered at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington, receives limited but favorable coverage. Most stories are straightforward accounts of the event, but some point out that there was little of the controversy that greeted the first such speech two years ago. A few other accounts mention that the President alluded to the American Jobs Act, but only briefly.

The CBS Evening News (9/28, story 6, 2:55, Pelley, 6.1M) was the only broadcast network to report on the speech, saying the President "went to a high school in Washington today to deliver his annual back-to-school address. His message to students: Stay in school. He said six out of 10 jobs in the next decade will require more than a high school diploma. These are tough times for America's schools, of course. Since 2008, 300,000 educators have been laid off nationwide due to budget cuts."

 

The AP (9/28) reports the President told students "that they bear responsibility in helping America get back on its feet." The President said, "You're young leaders. And whether we fall behind or race ahead as a nation is going to depend in large part on you." He "encouraged the students to get an education after high school. He said in tough economic times, the country needs their ideas and passion," and "also confessed that he wasn't always the best student and didn't love every class he took." The Hill (9/28, Wisniewski) reports on its website that the President said, "I was not always the very best student that I could be when I was in high school, and certainly not when I was in middle school. I did not love every class I took. I wasn't always paying attention the way I should have. ... If you'd ask me what my favorite subject was back in eighth grade, it was basketball."