THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Rockets!  (Applause.)  Thank you!  (Applause.)  Thank you, everybody.  (Applause.)  Everybody, have a seat, have a seat.  Have a seat.  It is good to be here today! (Applause.)  I'm excited!  I am thrilled to be here, Rockets.  Bonswa.  It is good to see all of you.

I want to, first of all, thank somebody who I think is going to end up being one of the best Education Secretaries that we’ve ever had, Arne Duncan, for being here.  (Applause.)  We also have -- your congresswoman, Frederica Wilson, is here.  Give her a big round of applause.  (Applause.)

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is here -- give her a big round of applause.  (Applause.) Your outstanding school superintendent（监督人，负责人） , Alberto Carvalho -- give him a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  And a very, very impressive principal -- Renina Turner.  (Applause.)  Give it up for Renina Turner.  (Applause.)
 
I gather we also have some members of the football team here.  (Applause.)  I understand you guys were state champs -- is that right?  (Applause.)  They look pretty big.  (Laughter.)  And some of them aren't smiling, you know -- (laughter) -- they’ve got their game face on.  (Applause.)

We are also honored to be joined here today by another champion of education reform, somebody who championed reform when he was in office, somebody who is now championing reform as a private citizen -- Jeb Bush.  (Applause.)  And we are grateful -- we're grateful for him being here.  Aside from being a former governor of this great state, Jeb of course is best known as the brother of Marvin Bush.  (Laughter.)  Apparently the rest of the family also did some work back in Washington back in the day.  (Laughter.)

The truth is I've gotten to know Jeb because his family exemplifies（例证） public service.  And we are so grateful to him for the work that he’s doing on behalf of education.  So, thank you, Jeb.  (Applause.)   

Now, I just had a chance to take a tour here at Miami Central -- (applause) -- met your outstanding principal, Ms. Turner.  I talked to some of the great students who are here.  We went through a lab -- they had robots, they had computers with vectors（向量） and this and that.  And I was a little confused, but I nodded, pretending like I understood what was going on.  (Laughter.)  And it’s inspiring to think about where you were just a few years ago and then where you are today.  (Applause.)  Right?  You came together to turn this school around.  (Applause.)  And I think the rest of us can learn something from that –- because that’s what we’re going to need to do all across the country right now.

We are at a pivotal（关键的） turning point.  We just came through a tough recession that’s taken a big toll on families here in Florida and all across the country.  And to accelerate our recovery in the short term we took some essential steps to spur hiring and economic growth, including tax cuts that are making Americans’ paychecks bigger and letting businesses write off their investments –- and I am proud -- I'm proud that Republicans and Democrats came together to get that done.

And you're already seeing those steps make a difference.  This morning we learned that the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in nearly two years.  (Applause.)  Our economy added another 222,000 jobs in the private sector.  (Applause.)  That's the 12th straight month of private sector job growth.  So our economy has now added 1.5 million private sector jobs over the last year.  And that's progress.  (Applause.)  But we need to keep building on that momentum.  And in a world that’s more competitive, more connected than ever before, that means answering some difficult questions:  How do we attract new jobs?  How do we attract new businesses?  How do we attract new industries to our shores?  How do we grow our economy and out-compete countries around the world?  How do we make sure all of you -- all of our students, whether they go to Miami Central or anyplace else –- how do we make sure you have a chance at the American Dream?

That’s why I’m here today.  That’s what I want to talk to you about.  Because in today’s economy, companies are making decisions about where to locate and who to hire based on a few key factors.  They’re looking for faster, more reliable transportation and communications networks, like high-speed railroads and high-speed Internet.  (Applause.)  They’re looking for a commitment to innovation and investments in basic research –- so that companies can profit from new ideas and new discoveries.  But most of all, the single most important thing companies are looking for are highly skilled, highly educated workers.  (Applause.)  That's what they’re looking for.  More than ever before, companies hire where the talent is.

Now, I want all the young people here to listen, because over the next 10 years, nearly half of all new jobs are going to require a level of education that goes beyond a high school degree.  So, first of all, you can’t drop out.  You can’t even think about dropping out.  (Applause.)  You can’t even think about dropping out.  But it’s not going to be enough just to graduate from high school.  You’re going to need some additional education.  And a good education equals a good job.  If we want more good news on the jobs front, then we’ve got to make more investments in education.  As a nation, making these investments -– in education, in innovation, in infrastructure –- all of them are essential.

Now, what makes it tough is that we’re in a difficult fiscal situation, as well.  For too long, the government has been spending more than it takes in.  So in order to make sure we can keep doing our part to invest in Miami Central, to invest in your schools, to invest in Pell Grants, to invest in your education, then we’re also going to have to get serious about cutting whatever spending we don’t need.

So what I’ve done is I’ve called for a five-year freeze on annual domestic spending -– and that freeze would cut the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade, and it will bring that kind of spending to a lower share of our economy than has been true for the last 50 years.  To achieve those savings, we’ve proposed eliminating more than 200 federal programs.  We’re freezing the salaries of hardworking civil servants for the next two years.  We’re finding ways to save billions of dollars, of tax dollars, by selling, for example, 14,000 government properties that we don’t need anymore.

And that’s just a start.  If we’re serious about tackling our long-run fiscal（会计的，财政的） challenges, we’re going to have to cut excessive spending wherever we find it -– in defense spending, in spending on entitlements, spending through tax breaks and loopholes.  And I’m going to be sitting down with Democrats and Republicans to figure out how we can reduce our deficits.

But I want everybody to understand, our job is not just to cut.  Even as we find ways to cut spending, what we can’t do is cut back on investments like education that will help us create jobs and grow our economy.  (Applause.)  We can’t sacrifice your future.

Think about your family.  Let’s say something tough happens -- somebody gets laid off in the family, or you have a medical emergency.  If you’re a family that has to cut back, what do you do?  First thing you do is you give things you don’t need.  So you give up vacations.  Maybe you eat out a little bit less.  Maybe you don’t buy as many new clothes.  Maybe you don’t buy that new car that you thought you needed.  But the last thing you give up on is saving for your child’s college education.  (Applause.)  The last thing you give up on is making sure that your children have the books they need and the computers they need -- because you know that’s going to be the key to his or her success in life, over the long term.