President Obama visits North High in Des Moines for a town-hall discussion about America’s education system.

By Aaron Walker
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For Russhaun Johnson, the student-body president at North High School in Des Moines, education is more than just knowledge.

“It means the world to me because I no longer feel lost,” Johnson said, before introducing President Obama.

Obama’s visit was part of the sixth-annual Back to School Bus Tour, with Des Moines being the second stop.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is stopping at 11 different schools, starting in Kansas City, Missouri, on Monday afternoon and ending in Pittsburgh on Friday.

The Des Moines event was Obama’s only scheduled stop for the tour. The president was last in the state in January, when he introduced a broadband Internet proposal.

“We came to North High School because you guys have done some great things over past few years,” Obama said, referring to increased textbooks, test scores, and graduation rates.  “You’re an example for the whole country of what’s possible.”

In his opening remarks, he referred to a number of announcements made earlier in the week that included increased Pell Grant funding, a revamped federal student-aid process, and a College Scorecard website, which lists statistics and information about the country’s colleges.

“You have to fill out this form; we are making it easier for you to do,” Obama said in reference to the Federal Application for Federal Student Aid. “Even if you didn’t go to college, you need to nag your kids to makes sure this form gets filled out so you know the student aid you may be entitled to.”

That notion was iterated a number of times. Too often, Obama said, students miss out on benefits they may qualify for and mount a significant portion of debt as a result.

The FAFSA change would bring the application date to October instead of January and use parents’ tax information from two years prior, instead of one, because many parents had not filed their taxes by the date of application.

The College Scorecard, which was launched Sept. 12, outlines graduation rates, tuition costs, and a range of additional statistics to provide students and families with the information he said was necessary to making an informed decision.

“A lot of college-ranking systems you see just reward schools for spending more money or rejecting more students,” Obama said.

Instead, the government will provide a massive compilation of education statistics on American colleges, including the University of Iowa, which was rated above average in salary, graduation rates, and below average in annual cost of attendance.

He and Duncan answered questions from students and parents about college readiness and affordability, representing this year’s “Ready for Success” theme.

In response to a question about what makes a great teacher, Duncan said they see things in students they can’t see in themselves.

“Someone like Russhaun [Johnson], where your mom’s locked up, lot’s of folks could look at you and say, ‘Well, that’s where he’s going to go,’ ” Duncan said. “Other teachers see him as a future student-body president, a future teacher, a future leader of the community.”

Though the focus was on education, the 2016 presidential elections could not be ignored. Obama chose not to endorse a candidate but did outline the stances on education he will look for in a candidate.

“A society’s values are reflected in where we put our time, our effort, our money,” he said. “It is not sufficient for us to say we care about education if we aren’t actually putting resources into education.”

He pushed voters to challenge candidates on increased accountability for lawmakers, more creativity in the classroom, empowering teachers, and providing sufficient classroom utilities.

After the event the cheers returned. Johnson, who appeared to be overcome with joy, told The Daily Iowan his biggest takeaway was Obama’s message to “go that extra mile,” keep your options open, and tackle your dreams.

“It was unreal,” Johnson said. “I was being inspired by [Obama], and I could feel him being inspired by me.”