Tag Archives: Hyde Park Academy

News, Politics, Government

Giving Every Child a Chance in Life

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By <a href="/author-detail/475">Colleen Curtis</a>

President Obama at the Hyde Park Career Academy Chicago, Illinois, Feb. 15, 2013

President Barack Obama delivers remarks to discuss proposals unveiled in the State of the Union Address that focus on strengthening the economy for the middle class and those striving to get there, at Hyde Park Academy, Chicago, Ill., Feb. 15, 2013.

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama was in Chicago on Friday to talk about the importance of making sure every child in America has every chance in life to succeed. Speaking at the Hyde Park Career Academy, which is less than a mile from the Obama's home in that city, the President discussed the recent death of Hadiyah Pendleton, a Chicago teenager who was shot just days after attending the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, DC.

Hadiyah's parents were guests of First Lady Michelle Obama at the State of the Union address on Tuesday, where President Obama discussed the need to prevent this kind of senseless violence and protect American children. But the important goal of keeping guns out of the hands of criminals is not enough to ensure a bright future for all of our children, and the President also laid out a plan to rebuild ladders of opportunity for every American who is willing to work hard and climb them. This includes making sure every child in America has access to high-quality pre-K, and raising the minimum wage so that no family that works hard and relies on a minimum wage is living in poverty. But creating a path into the middle class also means transforming high-poverty communities into places of opportunity that can attract private investment, improve education, and create jobs, and President Obama talked about his plan to make that happen:

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at The White House

News, Politics, Government

Remarks By The President On Strengthening The Economy For The Middle Class

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By The White House

3:31 P.M. CST

THE PRESIDENT: Hey, Chicago! (Applause.) Hello, Chicago! Hello, everybody. Hello, Hyde Park! (Applause.) It is good to be home! It is good to be home. Everybody have a seat. You all relax. It’s just me. You all know me. It is good to be back home.

A couple of people I want to acknowledge — first of all, I want to thank your Mayor, my great friend, Rahm Emanuel for his outstanding leadership of the city and his kind introduction. (Applause.) I want to thank everybody here at Hyde Park Academy for welcoming me here today. (Applause.)

I want to acknowledge your principal and your assistant principal — although, they really make me feel old, because when I saw them — (laughter) — where are they? Where are they? Stand up. Stand up. (Applause.) They are doing outstanding work. We’re very, very proud them. But you do make me feel old. Sit down. (Laughter.)

A couple other people I want to acknowledge — Governor Pat Quinn is here doing great work down in Springfield. (Applause.) My great friend and senior Senator Dick Durbin is in the house. (Applause.) Congressman Bobby Rush is here. (Applause.) We’re in his district. Attorney General and former seatmate of mine when I was in the state senate, Lisa Madigan. (Applause.) County Board President — used to be my alderwoman — Tony Preckwinkle in the house. (Applause.)

And I’ve got — I see a lot of reverend clergy here, but I’m not going to mention them, because if I miss one I’m in trouble. (Laughter.) They’re all friends of mine. They’ve been knowing me.

Some people may not know this, but obviously, this is my old neighborhood. I used to teach right around the corner. This is where Michelle and I met, where we fell in love —

AUDIENCE: Aww —

THE PRESIDENT: This is where we raised our daughters, in a house just about a mile away from here — less than a mile. And that’s really what I’ve come here to talk about today — raising our kids.

AUDIENCE: We love you!

THE PRESIDENT: I love you, too. (Applause.) I love you, too.

I’m here to make sure that we talk about and then work towards giving every child every chance in life; building stronger communities and new ladders of opportunity that they can climb into the middle class and beyond; and, most importantly, keeping them safe from harm.

Michelle was born and raised here — a proud daughter of the South Side. (Applause.) Last weekend, she came home, but it was to attend the funeral of Hadiya Pendleton. And Hadiya’s parents, by the way, are here — and I want to just acknowledge them. They are just wonderful, wonderful people. (Applause.)

And as you know, this week, in my State of the Union, I talked about Hadiya on Tuesday night and the fact that unfortunately what happened to Hadiya is not unique. It's not unique to Chicago. It's not unique to this country. Too many of our children are being taken …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at The White House Press Office

News, Politics, Government

Press Gaggle by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest aboard Air Force One en route Chicago, Illinois, 2/15/2013

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By The White House

Aboard Air Force One
En Route Chicago, Illinois
1:25 P.M. EST
MR. EARNEST: Welcome aboard Air Force One for our trip to Chicago. We will only be there a few hours, and then we'll go somewhere much warmer, to Florida for the evening. I'll make some opening remarks and describe to you a little bit more about the President's event in Chicago today, and then we'll open it up to questions.
Today, the President will visit Hyde Park Academy in the Woodlawn neighborhood in Chicago where he will deliver remarks to Hyde Park Academy students, faculty, and community leaders on the economic proposals from his State of the Union address designed to strengthen the middle class and those striving to get there.
Woodlawn is a community where there is a locally organized, all-hands-on-deck approach to provide educational support for students, improve housing, expand economic opportunity, and attract jobs. That effort makes Woodlawn an appropriate backdrop for the President's focus today on the importance of building ladders of opportunity into the middle class. That includes policies that ensure that every child gets a great education starting from their earliest years; that our young people grow up in strong communities; that there are clearer opportunities for good jobs for all Americans; and that we support financial security for working families.
These policies would benefit middle-class families in every single congressional district in the country. So every member of Congress who agrees with the President that our nation is strong only when we have a thriving middle class should be strongly supportive of this effort.
Now, prior to his remarks, the President will participate in a private roundtable discussion with 16 students who are enrolled in a youth anti-violence program. This program is a school-based counseling, mentoring, violence prevention and educational enrichment program that promotes social, emotional and behavioral growth for at-risk young men. The group is a mix of students who have voluntarily joined the program and those who have been urged by their principal to join.
As the President has often said in the past, there are important steps we can take as a country to keep guns out of the wrong hands and get weapons of war off the street. And he will talk about that again today, as well. But we must also recognize that it's not enough to debate the role of government in reducing violence. It’s up to parents, teachers, principals, neighbors and communities as a whole to make a difference in the lives of our young people and steer them away from a life of gang violence and toward the classroom.
So with that, we'll take some questions.
Q Will there be any sort of spray of that meeting? Will we go in at all? Or just —
MR. EARNEST: There won't be.