White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
Encyclopedia
The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics
is a multi-agency working group within the Department of Education
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...

 charged with strengthening the nation's capacity to provide high quality education while increasing opportunities for Hispanic American
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...

 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.

Organization

Despite its title, the Initiative is created by executive order as a fully staffed and funded entity within the United States Department of Education
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...

. 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
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

.

President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics

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.

White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics

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.

First Bush Administration

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
Raul Yzaguirre
Raul Humberto Yzaguirre is an American civil rights activist. Currently a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he previously served as the president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza from 1974 to 2004. On November 30, 2009 he was nominated by President Barack H...

 of the National Council of La Raza
National Council of La Raza
The National Council of La Raza is a non-profit and non-partisan advocacy group in the United States, focused on improving opportunities for Hispanics. It is sometimes confused with La Raza Unida...

 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. 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:
  • Enhance parental involvement;
  • Promote early childhood education;
  • Remove barriers to success in education and work, particularly limited proficiency in the English language;
  • Help students to achieve their potential at all educational levels;
  • Increase private sector and community involvement in improving education.


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
Lauro Cavazos
Lauro Fred Cavazos Jr. is a U.S. educator. He served as Secretary of Education, and was the first Hispanic to serve in the United States Cabinet....

 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
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...

. At Cavazos' request, Florez had been involved in the studies that led to the creation of the Initiative.

Notable figures among the Commission included Yzaguirre, Diana S. Natalicio (the first female president of the University of Texas at El Paso
University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is a four-year state university, and is a component institution of the University of Texas System. Its campus is located on the bank of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas. The school was founded in 1914 as The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy,...

), businessman Peter H. Coors, and golfer Nancy Lopez
Nancy Lopez
Nancy Marie Lopez is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won 48 LPGA Tour events during her LPGA career, including three major championships.-Amateur career:...

.

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.

Clinton Administration

The Commission was re-established by President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

 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
  • Report the progress of Hispanic Americans toward achievement of the National Education Goals and other standards of educational accomplishment;
  • Oversee the development, monitoring, and coordination of Federal efforts to promote high-quality education for Hispanic Americans;
  • Develop ways to increase State, private sector, and community involvement in improving education;
  • Develop ways to expand and complement Federal education initiatives.


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
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....

. Among the more notable figures on the Commission were academicians Guillermo Linares
Guillermo Linares
Guillermo Linares is a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly, representing the 72nd Assembly District in Manhattan. He is a former New York City councilman and a former New York City Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs.-Life and education:...

 and Eduardo J. Padrón
Eduardo J. Padrón
Eduardo José Padrón is the current President of Miami Dade College.An American by choice, Eduardo Padrón arrived in the United States as a refugee at the age of 15. Since 1995, he has served as President of Miami Dade College , the largest institution of higher education in Florida. An economist...

, author/producer John Phillip Santos
John Phillip Santos
John Phillip Santos is a freelance filmmaker, producer, journalist, author and in 1979 became the first Mexican-American Rhodes Scholar.-Early life:Santos was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas...

, businesspersons Linda G. Alvarado
Linda G. Alvarado
Linda G. Alvarado is President and Chief Executive Officer, of Alvarado Construction, Inc.. A large commercial and industrial general contracting/site management,and design/build firm in Denver, CO. President of Palo Alto, Inc. Restaurant...

 and Martin J. Koldyke
Frontenac Company
The Frontenac Company is a Chicago-based private equity firm founded in 1971.The firm manages over $1 billion in investor capital with a focus on investments in the business-to-business services, information technology services, and communications services sectors...

, 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. In response, the Clinton Administration thanked Yzaguirre for his service and announced that the long-awaited report was due to be completed in June. 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. On September 25, 2000, the Commission- now chaired by Linares- released its second report entitled Creating the Will: Hispanics Achieving Educational Excellence.

Second Bush Administration

George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 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
  • Map the progress of Hispanic Americans in closing the academic achievement gap and attaining the goals established by the President's "No Child Left Behind" educational blueprint;
  • Develop, monitor, and coordinate Federal efforts to promote high-quality education for Hispanic Americans;
  • Develop ways to increase parental, State and local, private sector, and community involvement in improving education;
  • Develop ways to maximize the effectiveness of Federal education.


The Commission comprised 20 members and met for their first full meeting in February, 2002. Among its more notable members were academician Alexander Gonzalez
Alexander Gonzalez
Alexander Gonzalez, PhD is the President at Sacramento State University in the eastern section of Sacramento, California since 2003. He previously served as President at Cal State San Marcos from 1997–2003 and as provost at Fresno State from 1991-1997....

, judge Micaela Alvarez
Micaela Alvarez
Micaela Alvarez is a United States federal judge.Born in Donna, Texas, Alvarez received her B.S. from the University of Texas in 1980 and her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1989. She was in private practice in McAllen, Texas from 1989–1995, and from 1997 to 2004...

, businessmen Charles P. Garcia
Charles Patrick Garcia
Charles Patrick García had recently started Garcia Trujillo LLC, a consulting, merchant banking, and venture capital firm where he is the Chief Executive Officer.- Biography :...

 and Frank Hanna III
Frank Hanna III
Frank J. Hanna III is an American entrepreneur and merchant banker who has been described as "one of the leading Catholic philanthropists in the USA."-Education and career:...

- the latter of whom served as one of the two co-chairs- astronaut Fernando Caldeiro
Fernando Caldeiro
Fernando "Frank" Caldeiro was an Argentine-American astronaut with a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Arizona and the University of Central Florida....

, teacher Jaime Escalante
Jaime Escalante
Jaime Alfonso Escalante Gutierrez was a Bolivian educator well-known for teaching students calculus from 1974 to 1991 at Garfield High School, East Los Angeles, California...

, and singer/songwriter Jon Secada
Jon Secada
Jon Secada is a Cuban-American singer and songwriter. Secada was born in Havana, Cuba, and raised in Hialeah, Florida. He has won two Grammy Awards and sold 20 million albums since his English-language debut album in 1992. His music fuses funk, soul, pop and Latin percussion...

. Additionally, US Treasurer Rosario Marin
Rosario Marin
Rosario Marin , was the 41st Treasurer of the United States from August 16, 2001 to June 30, 2003 serving under President George W. Bush. She is the first person to assume the post since William Clark who was not born a United States citizen . She is the only U...

, HUD Secretary Mel Martinez
Mel Martinez
Melquíades Rafael Martínez Ruiz, usually known as Mel Martinez , is a former United States Senator from Florida and served as Chairman of the Republican Party from November 2006 until October 19, 2007, the first Latino to serve as chairman of a major party...

, and SBA
Small Business Administration
The Small Business Administration is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and strengthen the nation's economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses...

 Administrator Hector Barreto
Hector Barreto
Hector V. Barreto was the 21st Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, confirmed on July 25, 2001. George W. Bush nominated him to the post. He resigned on April 25, 2006 following a controversial tenure as SBA chief....

 sat on the Commission as ex offico members or designees.

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.

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
Margaret Spellings
Margaret Spellings was the Secretary of Education from 2005-2009 under the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush and previously served as White House Domestic Policy Adviser to President George W. Bush....

 and U.S. Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral
Anna Escobedo Cabral
Anna Escobedo Cabral , currently serves as the Unit Chief for Stakeholder Communications in the External Relations Division of the Inter-American Development Bank . Prior to joining the bank, Cabral served as the 42nd Treasurer of the United States from January 19, 2005 to January 20, 2009...

, 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.

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 institution
Hispanic-serving institution
A Hispanic-serving institution, or HSI, is a term used for a Federal program designed to assist colleges or universities in the United States that attempt to assist first generation, majority low income Hispanic students...

s of higher learning.

Obama Administration

In July, 2009, the Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 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.
On October 19, 2010, President Obama signed a White House Initiative on educational excellence for Hispanic Americans in the East Room.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." 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.

WHIEEHA Executive Director

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
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...

 devoted to philanthropic and community development endeavors. He was also the host of Conversations on KRLN
KRLN
KRLN is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Canon City, Colorado, USA, it serves the Colorado Springs area. The station is currently owned by Royal Gorge Broadcasting, Llc....

. During the 2008 electoral season, Sepúlveda served as the state director of then Senator Obama's campaign in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

Sepúlveda was appointed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan
Arne Duncan
Arne Duncan is an American education administrator and currently United States Secretary of Education. Duncan previously served as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools.-Early years and personal:...

 on May 19, 2009.

List of Directors

No. Name Term of Office President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 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
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

4 Sarita E. Brown August 1997 - December 2000 Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

5 Leslie Sanchez
Leslie Sanchez
Leslie Sanchez is a prominent American author, political pundit affiliated with the Republican Party, and founder/CEO of Impacto Group LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based market research and consulting firm.-Early life:...

May 2001 - June 2003 George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

- Maria Hernandez Ferrier (acting) June 2003 - December 2003 George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

6 Adam Chavarria December 2003 - January 2009 George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

7 Juan Sepúlveda May 2009–present Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...


External links

  • "Yes I Can"- the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans web site
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