Obama Pushes Retraining, Community Colleges

On a day when national unemployment hit 8.9 percent, its highest since 1983, President Obama touted retraining for the unemployed and more use of the community college system to change the way out-of-work Americans find new jobs.

Being unemployed "is no longer a time to just look for a new job," Obama said. It's a time to "prepare yourself for a better job," he said.

Obama laid out a plan that would make it easier for the out-of-work to continue to receive unemployment benefits while getting government-sponsored Pell grants to retrain and better-educate themselves.

To that end, Obama announced a new Web site -- www.opportunity.gov -- designed to help users get new educational aid.

The president said he is appointing Jill Biden -- the vice-president's wife and a teacher and professor -- to head a new public relations effort for America's community colleges.

"I have asked every American to commit to at least one year of higher education," the president said, meaning either college or some sort of technical or vocational training. "Every American will need more than an high school education," he said.

-- Frank Ahrens
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