Sen. Barack Obama at the Mapleton Expeditionary School for the Arts (Photo/Erin Rosa)Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived in Thornton today to visit one of his top education advisers at the Mapleton Expeditionary School for the Arts and to field questions about schools and opportunity in the United States.


While a full recap of the event will be published Thursday, here are a few major points the candidate touched on:

- The necessity to have high school diplomas and college degrees to compete with the global economy.

- Criticism for the way standardized tests are used and how much time is spent on them.

- Support for free community college tuition through tax credits

- Support for legislation allowing certain undocumented students to attend universities.


The Thornton school is headed by Principal  Michael Johnston, who has been named as one of Obama’s top three education advisers.