Mar 26, 2009 8:06 pm US/Eastern
2 City Teachers Attend Obama's Town Hall Meeting
WASHINGTON (WJZ) ―
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It was a first of its kind town hall meeting where President Barack Obama fielded questions from the Internet.
President Barack Obama held a one-of-a-kind town hall meeting at the White House Thursday.
The president answered questions that mostly centered around his $3.6 trillion budget.
Gigi Barnett reports two Baltimore City teachers were selected to be there.
An online experiment from the White House took place Thursday as the president hosted a unique town hall meeting.
He answered questions from the economy to education to the unemployment rate.
"I don't want people to think that in one or two months suddenly we're going to see net job increases. It's going to take some time for the steps that we're taking to filter in," said Obama.
The questions came from around the nation through live simulcasts, emails and audience members who had special invitations to the White House.
"I really wanted to hear about the education piece. I wanted to know, for example, about the stimulus bill. Are the teachers going to have a part in that? Are we going to have a say in that? How is it going to be dispersed at the local levels?" said Kenya Campbell, Baltimore City teacher.
Campbell and fellow city teacher Judy Frumkin listened closely to the President's answers from the front row.
They had questions for Obama, especially regarding millions from the federal stimulus dollars headed to Maryland.
"We're hopeful that the stimulus package will help us, and that's very exciting to us. So we're really, we're optimistic that we'll be able to be helped by the stimulus by the money coming in," said Frumkin.
Campbell and Frumkin were chosen from nearly 8,000 Baltimore City teachers. They say what they've heard, they'll take back to their classrooms.
"I think I have to make a lesson out of this for tomorrow," said Campbell.
The teachers say town hall meetings like Thursday's could educate the nation.
Teachers from Pennsylvania, Virginia and D.C. were also in the live audience at the White House.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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