| overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | September 24, 1990 |
| executives | Glorimar Maldonado, Chief of Staff Jose Rico, Deputy Director Juan Sepúlveda, Executive Director |
| Parent | US Department of Education |
| Child | Click here |
| Website | |
| WHIEEH | |
The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics is a multi-agency working group within the Department of Education charged with strengthening the nation's capacity to provide high quality education while increasing opportunities for Hispanic American participation in federal education programs. In addition, the Initiative serves as a resource for information related to closing the educational achievement gap for Hispanic Americans. Finally, the Initiative provides staffing to support and coordinate the mission of a President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.
Contents |
Despite its title, the Initiative is created by executive order as a fully staffed and funded entity within the United States Department of Education. Its purpose is to provide support for a Presidential Advisory Commission, for organizational purposes also located within the Education Department, which in turn provides advice and guidance to the Secretary of Education and, through him, to the President.
The size of the Commission changes with each new Administration, numbering anywhere between fifteen and twenty-five members, and is usually led by two co-chairs. Commissioners are chosen from a wide variety of backgrounds such as educational/academic, sports figures, business, and entertainment and other celebrities. Membership is honorary and the Commissioners serve without pay. All represent either highly visible Hispanic Americans distinguished in their field or other individuals noted for their commitment to Hispanic matters. In order to fulfill its mission of providing guidance, the Commission issues reports- at regular or irregular intervals depending on its individual directive.
As previously noted, the Initiative is a fully staffed office within the Education Department. It is composed of a mix of appointed and civil service officials and led by an Executive Director. The Director is named either by the President or the Secretary of Education. The Initiative's mission ends with the Administration that created it but the agency does not completely shut down. As a regularly staffed unit, the Initiative continues into a new Administration with a "skeleton crew" on the expectation that a new executive order will be issued or until such time as the staff is reassigned by the Secretary.
The Commission and Initiative were initially created during the George H.W. Bush Administration as a part of its overall "America 2000 Education Strategy." For at least two years, Hispanic organizations and individuals- Raul Yzaguirre of the National Council of La Raza prominent among them- had been lobbying the government for a federal agency that would oversee educational outreach for Hispanic Americans and help to improve their academic performance. After months of negotiation and planning, President Bush signed Executive Order 12729 on September 24, 1990, establishing the first Commission as well as the supporting Initiative.[1][2] The goal of the Commission as outlined in EO 12729 was to "provide advice to the Secretary of Education on the progress of Hispanic Americans toward achievement of national education goals and on such other aspects of the educational status of Hispanic Americans as it consider[ed] appropriate." To that end, the Commission was expected to urge upon the Secretary a specific set of criteria:
However, the new endeavor ran almost immediately into roadblocks that would delay its implementation for a year.
Within a few days, the first Initiative director, Gilbert Roman, resigned for unknown reasons. The forced resignation of Secretary of Education Lauro Cavazos in early December put the Initiative and Commission into semi-hibernation. Finally, after increasing criticism, the first group of 17 Commission members were sworn-in in September, 1991. The Initiative also received a full staff and new Executive Director, John Florez, formerly the deputy assistant secretary for employment at the Department of Labor. At Cavazos' request, Florez had been involved in the studies that led to the creation of the Initiative.[4]
Notable figures among the Commission included Yzaguirre, Diana S. Natalicio (the first female president of the University of Texas at El Paso), businessman Peter H. Coors, and golfer Nancy Lopez.
The Commission issued its sole report on October 12, 1992, entitled A Progress Report to the Secretary of Education from the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.
The Commission was re-established by President Bill Clinton on February 18, 1994 by Executive Order 12900. Like its predecessor, the new Commission was to advise the President (albeit through the Secretary of Education). Its goals were modified slightly from that of the previous Administration. The Commission was oriented to
However, once again other political issues would push implementation of the Commission's mission onto the backburner for nearly a year. Finally, on February 1, 1995, 24 members of the Commission were sworn-in by Vice President Al Gore. Among the more notable figures on the Commission were academicians Guillermo Linares and Eduardo J. Padrón, author/producer John Phillip Santos, businesspersons Linda G. Alvarado and Martin J. Koldyke, and Yzaguirre, who served as its chairman.
Within a year, the Commission would become embroiled in further controversy when Yzaguirre, its chairman, accused it of being ineffective due to "bureaucratic morass and partisan politics" and criticized the Initiative's staff for inadequate support. Yzaguirre was especially incensed that its first report was nearly a year overdue.[6][7] In response, the Clinton Administration thanked Yzaguirre for his service and announced that the long-awaited report was due to be completed in June.[8] Nevertheless, it was not until September that the Commission issued Our Nation on the Fault Line: Hispanic American Education.
A new Executive Director, Sarita Brown, was named in 1997. Subsequent to her appointment, Brown was credited with revitalizing the Initiative's mission as well as placing renewed focus on funding for Hispanic education.[9] On September 25, 2000, the Commission- now chaired by Linares- released its second report entitled Creating the Will: Hispanics Achieving Educational Excellence.[10][11]
George W. Bush established his President's Advisory Commission on October 12, 2001 with Executive Order 13230. The Commission's mandate was updated to dispense advice and issue reports in order to
The Commission comprised 20 members and met for their first full meeting in February, 2002. Among its more notable members were academician Alexander Gonzalez, judge Micaela Alvarez, businessmen Charles P. Garcia and Frank Hanna III- the latter of whom served as one of the two co-chairs- astronaut Fernando Caldeiro, teacher Jaime Escalante, and singer/songwriter Jon Secada. Additionally, US Treasurer Rosario Marin, HUD Secretary Mel Martinez, and SBA Administrator Hector Barreto sat on the Commission as ex offico members or designees.[13]
During this Administration, the Commission issued two reports. The first, entitled The Road to a College Diploma: The Complex Reality of Raising Educational Achievement for Hispanics in the United States, was released on September 30, 2002 and contained initial findings on the state of Hispanic education in the U. S. The second report, From Risk to Opportunity: Fulfilling the Educational Needs of Hispanic Americans in the 21st Century and released on March 31, 2003, offered six recommendations for increasing the educational achievement of Hispanics.[14]
From June 16 to June 17, 2005, the Initiative hosted a conference entitled Pathways to Hispanic Family Learning. Presided over by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and U.S. Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral, the meeting paved the way for a new program, the Partnership for Hispanic Family Learning, "a national network of public and private organizations that provide Hispanic families with the knowledge and tools needed to help them prepare their children for academic success." Information and resources were then dispensed through a series of regional conferences.[15]
In 2007, the Initiative convened a conference with the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), The American Competitiveness Initiative: Challenges and Opportunities for Hispanic Serving Institutions. As a result of the meeting, a combined WHI-ACI working-group was formed to address the needs, strengths, and capabilities of Hispanic-serving institutions of higher learning.[16]
In July, 2009, the Barack Obama Administration initiated a series of speaking events and meetings in order to gather input on the educational needs of the Hispanic community. A new executive order was planned for later in the year once the accumulated data could be assessed.[17] On October 19, 2010, President Obama signed a White House Initiative on educational excellence for Hispanic Americans in the East Room.[18]April 27, 2011, Obama released a report on the education of Latinos. In that report, Juan Sepulveda, director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, was quoted "Our numbers have grown so large that the future of the U.S. is inextricably linked to the future of the Latino community." [19] May 26, 2011, the headline read: President Obama Announces Members of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. There were 15 people named as a part of that new program.[20]
The current executive director of the White House Initiative is Juan Sepúlveda. Prior to this position, he was the president and co-founder of The Common Enterprise, an offshoot of the Rockefeller Foundation devoted to philanthropic and community development endeavors. He was also the host of Conversations on KRLN. During the 2008 electoral season, Sepúlveda served as the state director of then Senator Obama's campaign in Texas.[21]
Sepúlveda was appointed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan on May 19, 2009.[22]
| No. | Name | Term of Office | President served under |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Col. Gilbert D. Roman | October 1990 - November 1990 | George H.W. Bush |
| 2 | John Florez | September 1991 - January 1993 | George H.W. Bush |
| 3 | Alfred Robert Ramirez | February 1994 - July 1997 | Bill Clinton |
| 4 | Sarita E. Brown | August 1997 - December 2000 | Bill Clinton |
| 5 | Leslie Sanchez | May 2001 - June 2003 | George W. Bush |
| - | Maria Hernandez Ferrier (acting) | June 2003 - December 2003 | George W. Bush |
| 6 | Adam Chavarria | December 2003 - January 2009 | George W. Bush |
| 7 | Juan Sepúlveda | May 2009–present | Barack Obama |
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