Hello, Mustangs! (applause.) Fantastic. Well, everybody have a seat. Have a seat. Thank you, Leah, for the great introduction. Give Leah a big round of applause. Yay! (Applause.) Meeting young people like Leah just makes me inspired. It’s a good way to start the week. And all of the students here who are discovering and exploring new ideas is one of the reasons I love visiting schools like Bladensburg High. And so I just want to congratulate all of you for the great work that you’re doing.
I brought a couple of folks here who are helping to facilitate some of the programs here. Mynew Deputy Secretary of Labor, Chris Lu, is here. Give him a big round of applause. (Applause.) And some of the biggest champions for education in Prince George’s County arehere, including your Governor, Martin O’Malley. (Applause.) County Executive Rushern Baker. (Applause.) Mayor Walter James. (Applause.) Superintendent Kevin Maxwell. (Applause.) Yourbiggest fans in Congress, Donna Edwards and Steny Hoyer. (Applause.) We are proud of all ofthem, and we’re proud of you.
All of you remind me, all these young people here, that young people today are working oncooler stuff than they were when I was in high school. In classrooms across the country,students just like the students here, they’re working hard, they’re setting their sights we’ve got to do everything we can to make sure that all of you have a chance to that’s why your outstanding principal, Aisha Mahoney, is working so hard at this school. (Applause.) That’s why Governor O’Malley has been working so hard to repair old schools andbuild new ones across the state of Maryland. And that’s why I’m here today. Because last year,we launched a national competition to redesign America’s high schools for the 21st century --the 21st century economy. And I’m proud to say that your hard work here has paid off, becauseone of the winners is Prince George’s County. (Applause.) Good job. That’s right, you guys havedone great. (Applause.)
Now, let me tell you why this is so important. Many of the young people here, you’ve grown upin the midst of one of the worst economic crises of our lifetimes. And it’s been hard and it’sbeen painful. There are a lot of families that lost their homes, lost jobs; a lot of families that arestill hurting out there. But the work that we’ve done, the groundwork that we’ve laid, hascreated a situation where we’re moving in the right direction. Our businesses have createdalmost 9 million new jobs over the last four years. Our high school graduation rate is thehighest on record. Dropout rates are going down; among Latinos, the dropout rate has been cutin half since 2000. (Applause.) More young people are earning college degrees than ever ’ve been bringing troops home from two wars. More than 7 million Americans have nowsigned up for health coverage through the Affordable Care Act. (Applause.)
So we’ve been making progress, but we’ve got more work to do to make sure that every one ofthese young people, that everybody who is willing to work hard has the chance to get ’ve got to make sure that our economy works for everybody, not just a few. We’ve got tomake sure opportunity exists for all people. No matter who you are, no matter where youstarted out, you’ve got to have confidence that if you work hard and take responsibility, youcan make it.
And that’s the chance that this country gave me. It’s the chance that this country gaveMichelle. And that’s why we’re working so hard for what we call an opportunity agenda -- onethat gives everybody a shot. And there are four simple goals: We want to create new jobs. Wewant to make sure that people have the skills to fill those jobs. We want to make sure everyyoung person has a world-class education. And we want to make sure that we reward hard workwith things like health care you can count on and wages you can live on.
And Maryland and Governor O’Malley have been working alongside us on these issues, and Iwant to give a special shout-out to the Maryland legislature because, because of GovernorO’Malley’s leadership, you are helping to make sure that we are raising more people’s wageswith your push to raise your minimum wage right here in Maryland. (Applause.) We’re veryproud to see that happen. And I hope Governor O’Malley is going to sign it into law soon. GiveMaryland a raise. (Applause.) That’s good work.
But the main focus here is guaranteeing every young person has access to a world-classeducation. Every single student. Now, that starts before high school. We’ve got to start at theyoungest ages by making sure we’ve got high-quality preschool and other early learningprograms for every young child in America. (Applause.) It makes a difference.
We’ve got to make sure that every student has access to the world’s information and the world’sbest technology, and that’s why we’re moving forward with an initiative we call ConnectED tofinally connect 99 percent of America’s students to high-speed Internet in the next few years. (Applause.) It means that we’ve got to rein in college costs -- because I want to make sure thatLeah, when she goes to school, she’s not burdened with too much debt. (Applause.) And we’vegot to make it easier to repay student loans -- because none of the young people here should bedenied a higher education just because your family has trouble affording it. And a world-classeducation means preparing every young person with the skills they need for college, for acareer, and for a lifetime of citizenship.
