Obama Executive Order Focuses On Black Educational Excellence
After President Obama's announcement at the National Urban League conventionin New Orleans yesterday of his latest executive order establishing a new White House initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, all I can say is “WOW!” For me this announcement is serendipitous. A week ago, I was in New Orleans, seeing firsthand what my often woefully undereducated African American brethren were going through in a post-Katrina era. President Obama could not have picked a better place to make this announcement if he was looking for maximum symbolic impact.
From a political standpoint, this announcement gets a double WOW from me,
Improving Black Education by Executive Order
President Obama will announce to the Urban League a new initiative aimed at black achievement.
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(The Root) -- In an action certainly aimed at energizing his Democratic base, President Obama will announce today that he is signing an executive order specifically intended to improve educational opportunities for African-American students.
The president will announce the order Wednesday evening at theNational Urban League Conference in New Orleans. (Watch the live webcast at 7:30 p.m. EDT/6:30 p.m. CDT.)
According to a senior administration official, the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans will be a part of the Department of Education and will work with the president and Cabinet-level agencies "to identify evidence-based best practices to improve African-American students' achievement in school and college." It will also build a network of people, grassroots organizations and communities to share those practices.
In addition, the executive order creates a presidential commission on educational advancement for African-American students, with commission members advising the president and Education Secretary Arne Duncan on broad-stroke strategies meant to enhance educational opportunities for black Americans of all