If you're part of the press corps out there- good for you!

Watching on WBIR, where Abby Hamm (sp?) and John Becker apparently heard from a PSTCC adjunct professor (off-camera) moments ago who is less than impressed with TN Promise and the anticipated America's Promise.

He reported to them that he earns less than $20K annually from his two adjunct professorships and recommends that TN and the U. S. begin investing more in their colleges and universities.

Amidst all the fawning, it's good to hear from a clear-eyed Tennessean on this subject.

Presser on community college proposal...

The President Proposes to Make Community College Free for Responsible Students for 2 Years

Video of remarks by Jill Biden, Vice President Biden, and President Obama at Pellissippi...

(Fast forward about half way in for the beginning...)

Joe Biden's remarks at Pellissippi:

Said he was standing with Jill, Michelle, and Barack Obama backstage at the Denver convention where they were nominated, and they all looked at each other, and (someone) said, you know, none of us would be here without all the help we got beyond what our families were able to provide.

This.

nice. is the "L" for Learner or Liberal?

Obama: In America, we don't guarantee equal outcomes. But we do expect everyone to have an equal shot.

This.

Obama's remarks in Clinton...

Presser on Clinton remarks re. manufacturing hub...

FACT SHEET: President Obama Announces New Manufacturing Innovation Hub in Knoxville, Tennessee

Randy, you're better than me. I opted for staying home and depending on others to do the leg work. I'm having huge problems with my knee and moving around is a big hassle. I'm using a cane if I have to walk very far and I'm not a fan of this weather. Long story, but I'm hoping to have major surgery this summer.

Between the TV and the Internet, I feel that I got a good idea of what happened.

You got great pictures and had a wonderful first-hand experience. Congrats.

Transcript...

Remarks by the President on America's College Promise

Roggero, Roggo, Rojero? Great advance work.

Remarks by the President at Announcement of Manufacturing Hub

The President really didn't visit Knoxville, did he? I mean, I guess the airport is "Knoxville," but except for that, he was in other counties for the main events.

The President got to see Clinton without going through Hillary
-- old Knox County joke.

I was the last car allowed on Alcoa Hwy when Clinton and Gore visited many years ago. Had the road to myself and took my sweet time enjoying the drive from Neyland Drive to the airport. It was a little out of my way considering I was on my way to the UT Hospital Professional Building but definitely worth the experience.

Yes, though. Great pictures!

I like big awesome jets, and progressive Democratic Presidents.

Me too!

Was there an Air Force 2 somewhere that Biden landed in earlier? It's amazing to see such anti-Obama zealots stepping down with the president wearing big grins. I wonder if the Tea Party collects these kind of pics to use in future primaries.

Concerning that "institutional reform" Bloomberg instituted in NY community colleges, the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP), HuffPo ran an overview of how it is now working in Indiana community colleges back in March 2014.

It targets low-income students specifically and is described as an "intensive, accelerated curriculum" in which students "take double the normal course load and are expected to complete a two-year degree in half the time."

One young man featured in the story claims to have earned B's and C's in high school, yet reports that he now has a 3.6 GPA in this ASAP program, moving at double-pace? That would seem to indicate less rigor in the ASAP program, I thought?

In any event, ASAP is the brainchild of the Lumina Foundation, which is making grants to institutions willing to put up matching funds to launch the programs on their campuses.

Quoted throughout the article is Mike Smith, an Indiana philanthropist who serves as both a trustee on Lumina's board and a member of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Not surprisingly, a quick Google search reveals that he is also the founder of an Indiana-based private equity firm, Cardinal Equity Partners.

Irrespective of the conclusions we may draw on gathering more information about ASAP, what's clear is that Smith is yet another member of that Billionaire Boys Club now driving public ed policy nationwide--and those "institutional reforms" implicit in the proposed America's College Promise program may be no more palatable that were the reforms implicit in Race to the Top.

I dunno about you, but I don't care to be fooled twice...

Also referenced in Obama's remarks today was Chicago's free community college program.

U.S. News and World Report previously indicated that Chicago was to open five so-called high school/college "hybrids" in the fall of 2012, each of them offering an education through Grade 14, with curriculum developed by IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, Motorola Solutions, and Verizon. Those same area employers were also to provide summer internships, recruit mentors, and guarantee graduates "first in line" job interviews.

Chicago's model was P-TECH, a six-year high school in New York City opened in 2011 in partnership with IBM.

USN reported at the time that "the Chicago and New York City schools (were) variations on the 'early college high school' idea pioneered a decade ago by Jobs for the Future and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."

USN also reported that these schools have "a special commitment to low-income, first-generation, immigrant, and minority students" and that there were then 270 such early college high schools in 26 states nationwide, serving student populations that were roughly 70 percent minorities.

As to the Chicago Star Scholarship, which is also a last-dollar scholarship like Tennessee Promise and which will also be open to that city's spring 2015 high school grads with a GPA of 3.0 or better, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is mum on how it's to be funded.

In an article about the program in today's Chicago Tribune, Chicago City College officials say only that its estimated $2 million cost is to be covered by "greater efficiencies" and that the cost estimate is based on Chicago Public Schools' report that 500 to 1,000 students graduate from high school each year with at least a 3.0 GPA but do not go on to college.

Obama is tougher than the two east TN legislators who had to wear their heavy coats off the plane whereas he only had one jacket button closed. Poor Corker even needed a scarf! Of course Biden needed his coat so he could snag a few more pops out of the mini fridge for the ride to Pellissippi.

Those are fantastic pictures! How exciting that must have been. Thanks for sharing.