In Wisconsin, Obama to focus on job training

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is focusing on training workers for in-demand jobs, another theme from his State of the Union address.

The White House says Obama, while in Wisconsin on Thursday, will make good on a promise to act on his own to help the middle class by directing Vice President Joe Biden to lead a governmentwide review of federal job-training programs. He’s also asking Biden to work with government officials and others to help turn the job-training system into one that’s driven more by employer needs.

Obama was touring a General Electric facility near Milwaukee that for many years has relied on a regional program to train its workers.

He is following presidential tradition by traveling in the days after the State of the Union to promote his proposals.

Before returning to the White House, Obama planned to stop in Tennessee to speak at Nashville’s McGavock Comprehensive High School.

As Obama’s security detail prepared the school for his visit, grief counselors were helping students cope with the fatal off-campus shooting of a 15-year-old by a 17-year-old classmate. The shooting occurred Tuesday night within an hour of Obama’s State of the Union address, in which he renewed his call to curb gun violence.

White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters traveling aboard Air Force One that the president will speak about the “terrible tragedy” during his speech focused on education.