President Obama Signs the Executive Order on the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans

This Tuesday, I had the great honor of joining President Obama as he signed the executive order on theWhite House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. I shared this special moment with my colleagues, Assistant Secretary for Post-Secondary Education Eduardo Ochoa and Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of English Language Acquisition, Rosalinda Barrera, as well as a number of distinguished Latino leaders.

Before the President took the podium, he was introduced by a young man, Javier Garcia – a chess champion, a wonderful speaker, and a shining example of what’s right with American education today. I’m so excited to be working every day on behalf of students like Javier, to ensure that every single student has the opportunity to fulfill his or her highest potential. The President’s commitment to improving educational outcomes for our Latino students was also incredibly inspiring, and it helped me renew my own dedication to the success of all of our students.

You can watch the video of the event here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2010/10/19/educational-excellence-hispanic-americans.