"Education In Focus" Kickoff

Greenhouse Neutral Foundation Comment: - If you do not wish to exercise your right to post a comment on a listing by the White House, click the SHARE THIS and post it to your Twitter / FaceBook / MySpace or other media sites – you never know someone in your sphere of influence may just NEED to know about this featured release – Click the SHARE THIS – it’s easy, try it!

"Education In Focus" Kickoff
Posted by Secretary Arne Duncan on March 01, 2010 at 02:47 PM EST
Today, I joined President Obama and Colin Powell to reaffirm our strong commitment to addressing the graduation crisis in America's high schools. America’s prosperity in the 21st century rests on how well we prepare our children for success in college and in the workplace. Because economic progress and educational achievement go hand in hand, educating every American student to graduate prepared for college and for success in a new workforce is a national imperative.

That’s why the President set a goal for America: by 2020, this nation will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.

In a feature this week called “Education in Focus,” WhiteHouse.gov will highlight the Department of Education’s events and initiatives to meet this goal.

Every day, we'll feature different sections of our agenda. Today, we're featuring the Grad Nation event. Tomorrow, I will join Melody Barnes for a live video chat about our efforts to make college affordable and accessible. On Thursday, we'll use the power of the Web to make an important announcement about the Race to the Top competition.

Through the week, we'll cover subjects such as community outreach, technology in education, the contest for high schools to have the President give their commencement address, and our plan to reform the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

I look forward to reading your comments and interacting with you over the course of the week. President Obama and I are committed to reforming our schools and making sure every student is prepared to succeed in college and careers.

Arne Duncan is Secretary of Education