The White House has released a copy of the prepared remarks that President Barack Obama plans to broadcast to school children across the country on Tuesday.

In the remarks, Obama says he has often talked about the responsibilities of teachers, parents and school administrators to help children do well in school. But Obama says students need to take responsibility for their own education:

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it. 

Students at Durham's Southern High School will get a chance Tuesday to watch the broadcast with a member of Obama's cabinet - Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson.

Jackson, like other cabinet members visiting schools elsewhere in the country, will talk with a group of students at Southern after the broadcast.

N.C. Republican Party chairman Tom Fetzer sent out a press release late today calling on N.C. school systems to avoid President Barack Obama’s speech on education scheduled for noon Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Education has encouraged schools to allow students to view the speech and has put out materials for teachers to use along with it, Barb Barrett reports. Despite criticism from Republicans, the White House says the speech is not political and is meant to encourage pupils to work hard in school.

"This speech is clearly political in nature and has no place in the classroom," Fetzer said in a prepared statement. "Our focus should be improving our students’ test scores, not the President’s approval rating."

Fetzer did not mention a visit to Durham’s Southern High School planned by Lisa Jackson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to coincide with the speech. Jackson is scheduled to visit students there on Tuesday and watch Obama’s speech with them live.

Several Cabinet and high-level administration officials are being sent to schools around the country to watch the speech with students.

Students at Durham's Southern High School will watch President Barack Obama’s education speech Tuesday alongside Lisa Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Obama is scheduled to speak at noon Tuesday about education success, and the administration has sent out educational materials to schools to accompany the talk, reports Barb Barrett. The speech and the materials have drawn criticism from some who say Obama is wrongly injecting politics into the public schools, but the White House says the speech will be focused on encouraging children to succeed.

As part of the speech, members of Obama’s cabinet are joining students across the country. Jackson is scheduled to be at Southern. According to the White House, she will join the students in watching the speech live, then engage in a discussion about taking responsibility for education.

With President Barack Obama’s Cabinet fanning out across the country to sell the his health care proposal, Energy Secretary Steven Chu will be coming to Charlotte on Wednesday, the White House announced.

The visit by Chu is part of a nation-wide bilitz and grass roots lobbying effort by the administration that included a visit to Raleigh last week by Obama, Rob Christensen reports.

Details of the Chu visit have not yet been anounced.

Transporation Secretary Ray LaHood is heading to Lyon Station Pennsylvania, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke is heading to Kansas City, and EPA administrator Lisa Jackson is heading to Tampa Bay area.