Secretary Duncan Visits Durham to Highlight Role of HBCUs, Reiterate Call to Save Education Jobs
Yesterday Secretary Duncan travelled to Durham, North Carolina, where he spoke at North Carolina Central University’s Setting the Agenda for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Symposium and visited Southern High School for a panel discussion on saving teachers jobs.
In his remarks, Secretary Duncan praised North Carolina’s HBCUs for their successful efforts to elevate access to higher education and raise academic standards, noting their study abroad programs, self-evaluative research, and smooth transition to Direct Lending. He also emphasized the need for stronger teacher preparation and a greater commitment to raising college completion rates, stressing the lack of black male teachers and the high dropout rate among minority students.
Dr. John Wilson, Jr., Executive Director for the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, joined Secretary Duncan at the meeting with hundreds of representatives of HBCUs and affiliates at the Symposium.Secretary Duncan then headed to Southern High School, where he talked with students, congratulating them on their upcoming graduation and encouraging them to pursue their personal passion. He participated in a panel discussion with Governor Bev Perdue, Congressman Bob Etheridge, and Durham County School Board Chairwoman Minnie Forte-Brown about the threat of education job losses and the negative impact on academic progress. Duncan called on Congress to act quickly on a $23 billion bill to prevent education job cuts, drawing attention to the potential 10,000 education jobs the bill could support in North Carolina.
“Without these funds, teachers could lose jobs, schools may have to cancel summer programs, end vital extracurricular courses like gym, art, drama and decrease the time our kids spend in school,” said Secretary Duncan. “We can’t afford to take a step back. This has to happen now.”
During the panel, Duncan also commended North Carolina for their efforts to raise their academic standards. Local morning headlines announced the State Board of Education’s Wednesday meeting where members planned to adopt common standards for math and English for public school children. The state’s adoption is part of an almost year-long initiative lead by the National Governors Association where 48 states came together to pursue high common education standards.Liz Utrup
Office of Communications and Outreach
 |  |  |
ED Global Engagement Update
“All of us must recognize that education and innovation will be the currency of the 21st century.”
One year ago today, President Obama delivered a speech in Cairo titled “A New Beginning.” The President reminded us in his remarks that “change cannot happen overnight” and that while much anticipated, it was only a speech. But here at the Department of Education, the President’s words catalyzed much change in the past year.
Secretary Duncan has led ED in active engagement with the Muslim world at home and abroad. Senior ED officials have traveled to Morocco, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt and Ethiopia this year. Secretary Duncan blogged at for the White House about a video conference he held with students from Washington DC and Jordan and led a panel on youth entrepreneurship with colleagues from Pakistan, Indonesia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates at the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship. Secretary Duncan has met with Ministers of Education from around the world, including Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Last June, ED’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education joined the State Department and U.S. AID in hosting a conference on community and technical colleges in Amman, Jordan. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Pakistan, and Jordan are among the countries working with U.S. institutions to connect education and workforce development in high-tech, high-demand fields. ED collaborated with State to launch a small grants program to support institutional partnerships between US community colleges and technical colleges in the BMENA region, which was announced by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton as part of a portfolio of programs designed to improve educational and economic opportunities in Muslim-majority nations.
The Cooperative Civic Education and Economic Education Exchange Program provides grants to improve the quality of civic and economic education through cooperative exchange programs with emerging democracies. Currently, there are CCEEEEP-funded projects in Azerbaijan, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Uzbekistan.
ED has supported engagement with the Muslim world for many years and often decades through programs and exchanges. ED’s National Resource Centers, Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad, Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad, Centers for International Business Education, Foreign Language and Area Studies, Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad, Americans Overseas Research Centers, Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program, Business and International Education and Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information Access are all opportunities for global engagement. These grants can support projects that develop, maintain, or enhance linkages with overseas institutions of higher education or other educational organizations in areas with substantial Muslim populations in order to improve understanding of these societies and provide for greater engagement with institutions in these areas. Or they send students, teachers and faculty overseas for language instruction, group research or study, and other purposes. These grants support foreign language instruction in the US and business education abroad. This year, these programs supported engagement with Muslim majority countries across the globe.
ED’s Center for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnership has reached out to Muslim communities in the U.S. in a variety of ways, including visits with Muslim students, parents and faith leaders from California to Illinois, Arkansas to Washington DC.
“We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning.”
Here at the Department of Education, we have tried to use the power that we have to make a new beginning for young people in the United States and across the world. This is the President’s challenge, and we will continue to work toward the vision he expressed in Cairo.
Lauren Lowenstein
Office of the Secretary
One year ago today, President Obama delivered a speech in Cairo titled “A New Beginning.” The President reminded us in his remarks that “change cannot happen overnight” and that while much anticipated, it was only a speech. But here at the Department of Education, the President’s words catalyzed much change in the past year.
Secretary Duncan has led ED in active engagement with the Muslim world at home and abroad. Senior ED officials have traveled to Morocco, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt and Ethiopia this year. Secretary Duncan blogged at for the White House about a video conference he held with students from Washington DC and Jordan and led a panel on youth entrepreneurship with colleagues from Pakistan, Indonesia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates at the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship. Secretary Duncan has met with Ministers of Education from around the world, including Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Last June, ED’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education joined the State Department and U.S. AID in hosting a conference on community and technical colleges in Amman, Jordan. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Pakistan, and Jordan are among the countries working with U.S. institutions to connect education and workforce development in high-tech, high-demand fields. ED collaborated with State to launch a small grants program to support institutional partnerships between US community colleges and technical colleges in the BMENA region, which was announced by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton as part of a portfolio of programs designed to improve educational and economic opportunities in Muslim-majority nations.
The Cooperative Civic Education and Economic Education Exchange Program provides grants to improve the quality of civic and economic education through cooperative exchange programs with emerging democracies. Currently, there are CCEEEEP-funded projects in Azerbaijan, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Uzbekistan.
ED has supported engagement with the Muslim world for many years and often decades through programs and exchanges. ED’s National Resource Centers, Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad, Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad, Centers for International Business Education, Foreign Language and Area Studies, Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad, Americans Overseas Research Centers, Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program, Business and International Education and Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information Access are all opportunities for global engagement. These grants can support projects that develop, maintain, or enhance linkages with overseas institutions of higher education or other educational organizations in areas with substantial Muslim populations in order to improve understanding of these societies and provide for greater engagement with institutions in these areas. Or they send students, teachers and faculty overseas for language instruction, group research or study, and other purposes. These grants support foreign language instruction in the US and business education abroad. This year, these programs supported engagement with Muslim majority countries across the globe.
ED’s Center for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnership has reached out to Muslim communities in the U.S. in a variety of ways, including visits with Muslim students, parents and faith leaders from California to Illinois, Arkansas to Washington DC.
“We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning.”
Here at the Department of Education, we have tried to use the power that we have to make a new beginning for young people in the United States and across the world. This is the President’s challenge, and we will continue to work toward the vision he expressed in Cairo.
Lauren Lowenstein
Office of the Secretary
