Lee Statement on White House Initiative on Education Excellence for African-Americans
Contact: Kristal DeKleer (202) 225-1882
Lee Statement on White House Initiative on Education Excellence for African-Americans
Washington, D.C.– Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) issued the following statement after President Obama signed an executive order establishing the White House Initiative on Education Excellence for African-Americans:
"Today, the President signed an Executive Order that will improve access to quality education for African Americans. During my term as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congresswoman Maxine Waters and other members championed this idea as a framework to begin to improve educational outcomes for African American students. I am delighted that this executive order has been signed. With African American dropout rates well above the national average (at 8 percent), with the pipeline to prison overcrowded with young black males, and with the unemployment rate for African Americans teens at 39.3 percent, it is past time to address what has become an educational state of emergency for many African American students. This new initiative will provide critical educational support from cradle to career.”
###
The White House Initiative on Education Excellence for African Americans will be housed in the Department of Education and will work with the Executive Office of the Present and other cabinet agencies to identify evidence-based practices to improve African American student's achievement in school and college. It creates both a President's Advisory Commission and a Federal Interagency Working Group on Educational Excellence for African Americans. A similar program for Hispanic students was created in 1990.