

Winning the Future

IMPROVING EDUCATION FOR THE 

LATINO COMMUNITY

APRIL 2011
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 2

WINNING THE FUTURE: IMPROVING EDUCATION FOR THE LATINO 

COMMUNITY

Latinos are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the U.S. yet have the 

lowest education attainment levels.

In his State of the Union, the President made it clear that the most important contest this country faces today 

is not between Democrats and Republicans, but with competitors around the world for the jobs and industries 

of our time. To win that contest and secure prosperity for all Americans, we must out-innovate, out-educate, 

and out-build the rest of the world. The Latino community is integral to that plan to win the future. 

There are 50.5 million Hispanics in the United States, composing 16 percent of the total population and a 

significant portion of the labor force. When you add the nearly 4 million residents of Puerto Rico, the total 

number of Latinos surpasses 54 million. Between 2000 and 

2010, the Latino population increased by 15.2 million, 

accounting for more than half of the 27.3 million increase in the 

total population of the United States. In the coming decades, 

Latinos will continue to drive the growth of the labor force, as 

they will account for 60 percent of the Nation’s population 

growth between 2005 and 2050. In this way, Latino success in 

education and in the labor market is of both immediate and 

long-term importance to America’s economy.

Latinos are a young population. There are 17.1 million Latinos 

ages 17 and younger in the U.S., more than 23 percent of this 

age group. In today’s American public education system,

Latinos are by far the largest minority group, numbering more 

than 12.4 million in the country’s elementary, middle and high 

schools. Currently, nearly 22 percent, or slightly more than 1 in 

5, of all pre-K–12 students enrolled in America’s public schools 

is Latino. 

Yet, Latino students face persistent obstacles to educational 

attainment. Less than half of Latino children are enrolled in any 

early learning program. Only about half of all Latino students 

earn their high school diploma on time; those who do complete 

high school are only half as likely as their peers to be prepared 

for college. Just 13 percent of Latinos have a bachelor’s 

degree, and only 4 percent have completed graduate or 

professional degree programs. 

Overall, Latinos have the lowest education attainment level of any group in the U.S.

At more than 54 million strong, 

including nearly 4 million in 

Puerto Rico, Hispanics 

constitute the country’s largest 

and fastest-growing minority 

group. They have had a 

profound and positive impact 

on our country through, 

among other things, their 

community’s strong 

commitment to family, faith, 

hard work and service.... Our 

country was built on and 

continues to thrive on its 

diversity, and there is no doubt 

that the future of the United 

States is inextricably linked to 

the future of the Hispanic 

community.

—President Barack Obama
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 3

President Obama’s Vision for Education: 2020 Goal and the Latino Community

President Obama has challenged America to once again lead the world in the share of our population with a 

college degree by 2020. We cannot achieve this goal without significantly strengthening and expanding 

educational opportunities for all Latino students, from cradle through college and career.

In his speech at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce conference in March 2009, the President laid out his 

education agenda and the importance of education to the Latino community, and to all Americans. President 

Obama called for a focus on early learning, higher standards for student learning, effective teachers and school 

leaders, and innovation that builds on what works in America’s classrooms. Improving education also means 

providing support to turn around low-performing schools, reducing high school dropout rates and

strengthening higher education to increase rates of college attainment and completion so that every student 

can realize his or her full potential.

LATINO EDUCATION IN THE EARLY YEARS

The years prior to kindergarten are among the most significant in shaping a child’s foundation for learning and 

school success. Research has shown that a child’s learning begins at birth, and takes shape as children are 

nurtured, challenged and engaged 

in high-quality learning 

environments and in relationships 

with parents and other caregivers. 

Compared to other minority 

groups, Latino children represent 

the largest segment of the early 

childhood population in the 

Nation, but are less likely than 

any other group to be enrolled in 

center-based early education 

programs. By age two, Latino 

children are less likely than their 

non-Latino peers to demonstrate 

expressive vocabulary skills. 

Preschool-aged Latino children 

also exhibit lower average scores 

in language and mathematics 

knowledge than their non-Latino peers.

A robust body of evidence and research demonstrates that high quality early learning programs help children 

arrive at kindergarten ready to succeed in school and in life. Disadvantaged children who have access to such 

programs—from birth through age five—are more likely to improve their cognitive, social, emotional and 

language development. Later effects of high-quality programs are well documented to improve academic 

achievement, reduce the need for special education, increase employment and earnings, reduce crime and 

delinquency, and ultimately increase international competitiveness. Empirical studies have proven that 

investments in high-quality early learning are among the most cost-effective of any investment along the 

educational pipeline, returning as high as 15-17 percent on the investment each year. Yet less than half of 

Latino children are enrolled in any early learning program.

President Obama delivering the State of the Union, January 2011.
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 4

Accordingly, the President has launched a comprehensive zero-to-five plan—to dramatically expand early 

childhood education and continue to improve its quality—aimed at supporting the health, well-being, and 

future educational success of our children. The Obama Administration has invested $5 billion in early learning 

through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to bolster the existing framework of 

federal programs and services to reach our youngest children, including Head Start, Early Head Start, child care 

and services for infants, toddlers and preschool-aged children under the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

Act (IDEA). The 2011 continuing resolution, recently enacted by Congress, provides nearly $7.6 billion for Head 

Start to maintain services for children added to the program under ARRA. The President’s 2012 budget calls for

an eleven percent or $50 million increase for the IDEA Infants and Families programs (Part C) to help ensure

that many of our youngest and most vulnerable children get off to a strong start.

A Race to the Top in Early Childhood 

Education

Each day, more than 11 million children 

under the age of five spend time outside 

of the care of their parents, and in a wide 

variety of environments—each of which 

should promote and encourage their 

early learning and development. The 

quality of early learning settings varies 

greatly, and despite some progress, early 

childhood education programs are held 

to inconsistent standards among and 

within states. 

Without a uniform system of standards 

to guide the effectiveness of programs, it 

is often the most disadvantaged children 

who are left behind. By the time children 

are three, disparities in early vocabulary 

growth between those whose parents are professionals and those from working class families amounts to 

more than 50 percent. Studies have documented a school readiness gap as early as kindergarten entry— and 

as wide as 60 percentage points— between children from the highest socio-economic background and their 

peers from the lowest group. 

Some states have made significant progress in shaping and developing early learning systems, and many have 

already begun to address the conditions necessary for promoting early learning and development. Leading 

states that have embarked on reform report a need for more coordinated and integrated early learning 

services and programs, and a commitment to accountability and results to ensure that a system with multiple 

funding streams and settings improves outcomes for all children.

Recognizing that quality early education is an investment that pays off for years to come, the Obama 

Administration proposes extending the Race to the Top approach to early childhood education. The President’s 

2012 budget calls upon Congress to establish a new, competitive Early Learning Challenge Fund, administered 

by the Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (HHS), for states that are ready to take 

dramatic steps to improve the quality of their early childhood programs. The Early Learning Challenge Fund will 

be complemented by investments in Head Start and in child care, coupled with reform principles designed to 

strengthen the quality of early learning programs, empower parents, and improve school readiness outcomes 

President Obama signs the White House Initiative on Educational 

Excellence for Hispanics’ new executive order in the East Room of the 

White House, Oct. 19, 2010.
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 5

for children. The Early Learning Challenge Fund would issue a challenge to states to establish model systems of 

early childhood education to fund and implement pathways that will improve access to high-quality programs, 

and to ensure that a greater share of children enter kindergarten prepared for success.

Supporting Head Start

The President’s 2012 budget request would increase funding for Head Start and Early Head Start by $866 

million for a total of $8.1 billion. The Head Start and Early Head Start programs promote school readiness by 

enhancing the cognitive and social development of children through the provision of education, health, 

nutritional, social, and other services to enrolled children and families. At the requested funding level, more 

than 968,000 children—more than 854,000 in Head Start and 114,000 in Early Head Start—can participate in 

the program, up from 904,000 in 2009. Thirty-six percent of the Nation’s Head Start children are Latino, the 

largest of any minority group in the U.S.

As part of a framework of maintaining historic investments and supporting critical reforms needed to raise the 

bar on quality in Head Start programs, the Obama Administration is committed to policies that would require 

low performing programs to compete for funding to ensure that children and families are served by the most 

capable providers. The Administration supports a redesigned training and technical assistance system which 

would bring current research and the best evidence-informed practice into Head Start classrooms, including 

best practices for local programs to work with their local school systems to ensure that children start school 

with the skills they need and that the gains children achieve in Head Start are sustained as the children leave 

Head Start and transition into schools.

Promoting High-Quality Child Care and Home Visiting

At HHS, the Administration for Children and Families is pursuing a comprehensive approach to helping more 

children in low-income families access high-quality child care. The most recent findings from the National 

Institute of Child Health and Human Development found that the quality of child care that children received in 

their preschool years had small but detectable effects on their academic success and behavior all the way into 

adolescence. Despite the importance of quality, the research and data available indicate that the quality of our 

Nation's child care, on average, is inadequate to support children's learning and development to help them 

succeed in school and in life. 

The Obama Administration has responded to these challenges by proposing principles for the reauthorization 

of the Child Care and Development (CCDF) Block Grant that would better focus the federal investment in child 

care on quality. States are currently using CCDF to build an infrastructure for child care quality that spans a 

wide variety of child care, Head Start, pre-kindergarten, and after-school programs. These pathways to 

excellence ensure the health and safety of children in child care; systems to rate and improve the quality of 

early learning programs; strong professional development and supportive workforce initiatives; and a child 

care subsidy system that is child-focused, family-friendly, and works in partnership with other child care 

providers. The President’s 2012 budget would invest an additional $1.3 billion for the CCDF for a total of $6.3 

billion, supporting a reform agenda focused on improving outcomes for children. Nineteen percent of the 

Nation’s child care subsidy recipients are Latino children.

The recently enacted Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) supports nurses, 

social workers or other professionals to meet with at-risk families in their homes and to evaluate the families’ 

circumstances, and connect families to the kinds of help that can make a real difference in a child’s health, 

development, and school readiness. Home visitors work one-on-one with families to provide health care, 

developmental services for children, early education, parenting skills, child abuse prevention, and nutrition 
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 6

education or assistance. Results include improved maternal and child health; prevention of child 

maltreatment; improvement of parenting skills; and greater promotion of children’s cognitive, language, and 

social-emotional development.

The President’s 2012 budget proposes $350 million in mandatory funding for the MIECHV Program. These 

funds will go to states, territories, and tribes for evidence-based home visiting programs for low-income 

families in at-risk communities. Effective home visiting programs provide crucial supports to new and 

expectant families and can have powerful and positive impacts on both children and families. 

Under the MIECHV Program, at least 75 percent of the funding 

must be used to support home visiting models that have been 

rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective. Up to onequarter of the funds can be used to support promising 

approaches that will be rigorously evaluated to assess their 

impact.

REFORMING AMERICAN SCHOOLS FOR 

LATINO STUDENTS

Our public education system must have one goal – all students 

should graduate from high school ready to embark on the path 

to college and eventual careers. Recent evidence suggests that 

other nations’ school children are outpacing those in American 

schools. Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

(ESEA; also known as the No Child Left Behind Act, or NCLB), the

federal role in education is too rigid, punitive and prescriptive—

resulting in shifting goals, uneven standards and low 

expectations for students and schools. To win the future, this 

has to change. Today’s economy demands a workforce that is 

smart, skilled, creative and equipped for success in a global 

marketplace. America’s future economic competitiveness is 

being decided every day, in classrooms across the Nation.

Our Nation faces a dropout crisis. When 25 percent of our 

students—almost 40 percent of our black and Hispanic 

students—fail to graduate high school on time, we know that 

too many of our schools are failing to offer their students a 

world-class education.

Currently, 1 in 5 students in the public schools system is Latino. Yet almost half of Hispanic students never 

receive their high school diplomas. These dropout rates have limited the advancement opportunities of a 

population that is estimated to become the majority of the Nation’s labor force in less than 50 years. And 

Latino students often have less opportunity than their peers to take the challenging curricula – including 

advance courses in mathematics, and Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses – that are 

often indicative of college success.

Reforming our schools to deliver a world-class education is a shared responsibility—the task cannot be 

shouldered by our Nation's teachers and principals alone. The Obama Administration recognizes the 

importance of the Hispanic community and its families in supporting their children's education, because a 

America will not succeed in the 

21st century unless we do a far 

better job of educating our sons 

and daughters ... And the race 

starts today. I am issuing a 

challenge to our Nation’s 

governors and school boards, 

principals and teachers, 

businesses and non-profits, 

parents and students: if you set 

and enforce rigorous and 

challenging standards and 

assessments; if you put 

outstanding teachers at the 

front of the classroom; if you 

turn around failing schools –

your state can win a Race to 

the Top grant that will not only 

help students outcompete 

workers around the world, but 

let them fulfill their God-given 

potential.

—President Barack Obama
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 7

parent is a child's first teacher. We must support families, communities, and schools working in partnership to 

deliver services and supports that address the full range of needs of Hispanic students.

This effort also requires that we support innovative approaches to teaching and learning; bring lasting change 

to our lowest-performing schools; and investigate and evaluate what works and what can work better in 

America's schools. We must reform our schools to accelerate student achievement, close achievement gaps, 

inspire our children to excel, reduce dropout rates, and turn around those schools that for too many Hispanic 

students aren't providing them with the education they need to succeed in college and a career.

Spurring a Race to the Top

Having emerged from the worst recession in generations, America must do what it can to broaden the 

recovery and spur job creation across the country. We also must look to the future and prepare to create the 

jobs and industries of tomorrow in an 

increasingly competitive global 

economy. Our prosperity and our 

children’s well-being increasingly 

depend on making sure that students 

are smart, skilled, and creative; able to 

solve problems, see patterns, and 

work with others. Because offering 

every child an education that connects 

them to the opportunities and jobs of 

tomorrow is critical to winning the 

future, the Obama Administration’s 

Race to the Top program dedicates $4

billion to spur systemic reform and to 

embrace changes in state and local 

education policies and practices that 

will improve four areas of enormous 

importance to Latino students: 

adopting rigorous standards and 

assessments; recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers; turning around low-performing schools; and 

improving the collection and use of data to strengthen teaching and student achievement.

The 11 states and one district that have been selected as Race to the Top winners—Tennessee, Delaware, 

Rhode Island, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and the 

District of Columbia—reach approximately 22 percent of the Nation’s Latino student population. Five of the 

15 states with the largest Hispanic populations won: Florida (3rd), New York (4th), Georgia (10th), North 

Carolina (11th) and Massachusetts (15th). 

The Obama Administration has also awarded $350 million to support states as they work to develop a new, 

next generation of college and career-ready assessments that are more rigorous than existing assessments, 

and that measure student growth, and that are more useful to teachers, parents and students. From the 

beginning, these tests will be designed to fully include English Learners (ELs) and to ensure that they are 

appropriately assessed. The 2011 continuing resolution, recently enacted by Congress, provides $700 million 

for the Obama Administration to continue a Race to the Top in American education, including a new focus on

improving early childhood education. 

University of Texas at Austin students listen to President Obama speak on 

education.
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 8

Creating Promise Neighborhoods

In September 2010, the Obama Administration announced planning grants for 21 nonprofit organizations and 

institutions of higher education under the Promise Neighborhoods initiative, a program designed to support a 

cradle through-college continuum of services to meet the education challenges of students growing up in highpoverty communities. 

The 2011 continuing resolution, recently enacted by Congress, provides $30 million to support Promise 

Neighborhoods; President Obama’s 2012 budget requests $150 million for the program to support full 

implementation of Promise Neighborhoods projects. Several Promise Neighborhood grantees are already 

developing plans to improve the learning, educational success, and healthy development of students in Latino 

communities, including:

• The Eastside Promise Neighborhood project in San Antonio, Texas, where the United Way will 

enlist and engage partners to work with five schools and an early childhood center serving an 

ethnically diverse neighborhood with a Latino majority and a growing Mexican immigrant 

population. This project will improve parent engagement, provide professional development to 

preschool and school staff, and deliver resources for economic redevelopment and housing.

• The Community Day Care Center in Lawrence, Massachusetts, which will work with several schools 

to develop sustainable educational supports and solutions in a community that is 68 percent

Latino, and in which 40 percent of adults lack a high school diploma.

• Proyecto Pastoral at Dolores Mission, which will work in the 30-block Boyle Heights area in Los 

Angeles, California, a community where more than 90 percent of residents are Latino and onethird of families are below the poverty line.

Turning Around Low-Performing Schools

Approximately 5,000 schools, or 5 percent of the total, linger as persistently low-performing schools—schools 

that have failed to make academic progress year after year. At the high school level, roughly 2,000 schools—

about 12 percent of all high schools—produce nearly half of our Nation’s dropouts, and up to 75 percent of 

minority dropouts. As research clearly demonstrates, students that fall behind academically are more likely to 

drop out. Latino students experience an unacceptably high dropout rate—a challenge exacerbated by the 

middle school achievement gap and by the fact that more than one-third of Latino high school students are 

academically below grade level. 

To help place a greater share of Latino students on track to college and careers, the Obama Administration has 

dedicated over $4 billion in School Improvement Grants to implement bold reforms that will transform one in 

twenty schools in America. These grants will provide up to $6 million per school over three years to 

dramatically transform our Nation’s lowest-performing schools into safe environments where students are 

learning. Nearly 1,000 schools across the country have received funding thorough the Obama Administration’s 

School Improvement Program. Approximately 40 percent of these are high schools, and 22 percent serve 

middle school students.

Stimulating Innovation in Education

At the center of the President's strategy to win the future is the intersection of education, innovation and 

infrastructure. The growth industries of today and tomorrow require a workforce with unprecedented 
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 9

knowledge and skills and greatly improved adaptability. By aggressively pursuing new and better ways to 

educate and train our citizens, we can meet those requirements, leapfrog other nations, and reclaim global 

leadership in education.

This strategy for ensuring a world-class education for America’s students relies on three approaches to 

educational innovation being advanced by the Obama Administration: 

• Fostering innovation and accelerating success. The Obama Administration’s Investing in Innovation 

Fund (i3), launched through the ARRA, dedicated $650 million to support the development and scaling 

up of innovative education models and solutions that help close the achievement gap and improve 

educational outcomes for high-need students. The Obama Administration has proposed a permanent 

i3 Fund to provide competitive grants that will expand the implementation of, and investment in, 

innovative and evidence-based practices and programs. The 2011 continuing resolution, recently 

enacted by Congress, provides $150 million to support the Administration’s continued efforts under 

the Investing in Innovation Fund.

• Supporting, recognizing, and rewarding local 

innovations. The Obama Administration will 

encourage and support local innovation by creating 

fewer, larger, more flexible funding streams under 

ESEA, focused on areas integral to student success. 

This new structure will give states and school districts 

flexibility to focus on local needs. 

• Supporting student success. Tackling persistent 

achievement gaps requires public agencies, 

community organizations, and families to share 

responsibility for improving educational outcomes for 

students. As Congress works to reauthorize the ESEA, 

the Obama Administration will prioritize programs that 

include a comprehensive redesign of the school day, 

week, or year, as well as programs that promote 

schools as the center of their communities and that 

partner actively with community organizations. 

Investments in new models that keep students safe, supported, and healthy both in and out of school, 

and that support strategies to better engage families and community members in their children’s 

education, will help support the goal of helping all students graduate college and career-ready.

In addition, to address the under-investment in learning technology research and development, the 

President’s 2012 budget invests $90 million to create an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Education 

(ARPA-ED). ARPA-ED will fund projects performed by industry, universities or other innovative organizations, 

selected based on their potential to transform teaching and learning the way the Internet, GPS and robotics 

(all areas where the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has had a profound impact) have 

transformed commerce, travel, warfare and the way we live our daily lives. 

Through a competitive preference to applicants who focused on serving English language learners, current 

winners of the Investing in Innovation Fund have incorporated plans to improve the achievement of English 

language learners, including:

... If we raise expectations for 

every child and give them the 

best possible chance at an 

education—from the day they 

are born until the last job they 

take—we will reach the goal 

that I set two years ago: By 

the end of the decade, America 

will once again have the 

highest proportion of college 

graduates in the world.

—President Barack Obama
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 10

• The Saint Vrain Valley School District in Longmont, Colorado, which will implement a project to 

address the unmet needs of Latinos and ELs at Skyline High School and its feeder schools.

Elementary students will improve their literacy skills through focused supports and expanded 

learning time; middle school students will improve their mathematics skills and knowledge with 

math labs and an augmented school year; high school students will have improved science learning 

opportunities through a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) certification 

track.

• The Exploratorium in San Francisco, California, which will work with Sonoma Valley schools on a 

five-year project to refine and implement a professional development approach to increase the 

percentage of elementary teachers who are highly effective in supporting the science learning of 

ELs.

A Great Teacher in Every Classroom and Great Leaders in Every School

Among all of the efforts at educational improvement in our schools, the interaction between teacher and 

student is a primary determinant of student success. Research 

shows that top-performing teachers can make a dramatic 

difference in the achievement of their students, and suggests 

that the impact of being assigned to top-performing teachers 

year after year is enough to significantly narrow achievement 

gaps. Additionally, a great principal can help teachers succeed 

as part of a strong, well-supported instructional team. We must 

do more as a nation to ensure that every student has an 

effective teacher; every school has effective leaders; and that 

every teacher and principal has access to the preparation, ongoing support, recognition, and collaboration opportunities he 

or she needs to succeed.

The key to student success is providing an effective teacher in 

every classroom and an effective principal in every school. The President’s 2012 budget requests $2.5 million 

for an overhauled teacher quality formula grant; will invest $500 million in the Teacher and Leader Innovation 

Fund, a competitive grant program for states and school districts with smart new approaches to strengthening 

the impact of school professionals; and will provide $250 million for Teacher and Leader Pathways, a 

competitive program to support effective teachers and leader preparation programs. In addition, the 

President’s budget request contains $100 million to help states and districts provide important information to 

principals and teachers about their progress in meeting their reform goals and improving outcomes for 

students.

As we learn what works, we also should reward those who are able to get extraordinary results from the 

dollars they spend. The Obama Administration has proposed a series of low-cost incentive programs including 

“pay for success bonds" that provide funding only after results are achieved; prioritized cost-saving initiatives 

within Race to the Top and Investing in Innovation; and called for a new prize for state and local grantees with 

the greatest cost savings. The President’s 2012 budget also increases funding by $100 million for 21st-Century 

Community Learning Centers, to support academic enrichment for children in high-poverty and lowperforming schools.

If you want to make a 

difference in the life of our 

nation—if you want to make a 

difference in the life of a child, 

become a teacher. Your 

country needs you.

—President Barack Obama
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 11

Developing the Next Generation of Latino Teachers With Minority-Serving Institutions and the TEACH 

Campaign—TEACH.gov

Closing the achievement gap between African-American and Hispanic students and their white peers is a 

primary goal of the Administration’s education agenda, and supporting the preparation of effective teachers 

for high-need schools is a key strategy towards reaching this goal. Nationwide, more than 22 percent of public 

school students are Hispanic, but less than 7 percent of teachers are Latino. Even worse, less than 2 percent of 

our Nation's teachers are Latino male.

Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), which collectively prepare half of all minority teachers, can play a major 

role in developing the next generation of effective teachers for high-need schools including Latino teachers. 

While many MSIs struggle, a number of their pre-service teacher training programs demonstrate better-thanaverage results despite being dramatically under-funded as compared to programs at non-MSI peer 

institutions. The President’s 2012 budget proposes $40 million in first-time funding for the already-authorized 

Augustus Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program for MSIs.

To inspire Americans to seek out employment 

opportunities in education, the White House, in 

collaboration with ED, launched the TEACH 

Campaign in September 2010. The TEACH Campaign, 

and it’s Web site, TEACH.gov, aims to increase the 

number, quality and diversity of candidates seeking 

to become teachers, particularly in high-need 

schools and subject areas, such as STEM, ELs and 

special education. The campaign also strives to 

connect aspiring teachers with information about the 

pathways to teaching, including preparation, 

certification, training and mentoring. 

With more than 1 million teachers expected to retire 

in the coming years, the MSI Hawkins program and 

the TEACH Campaign provide avenues whereby 1.7 

million new teachers can be recruited over the next 

seven years, particularly minority males, to pursue 

careers in the classroom. 

Supporting English Learners

English learners are the fastest- growing student population in the U.S., comprising 4.7 million, or 10 percent, 

of the Nation’s students in grades K–12. A diverse group, they escape easy classification. Most ELs—

approximately 78 percent—were born in the U.S., yet many have varying levels of English proficiency. In fact, 

82 percent report Spanish as the language most often spoken at home.

Unfortunately, almost all ELs have faced significant barriers to educational attainment. More than two-thirds 

of ELs score below basic in reading and mathematics (72 and 74 percent, respectively), compared to their nonEL classmates. While there are certain practices that have been shown to benefit ELs, more research and 

evaluation is needed on the types of language instruction education programs that are most effective for

English learners. Other challenges include the low numbers of English and a Second Language (ESL) teachers 

and the need for districts and schools to strengthen the ability of their classroom teachers to effectively 

President Obama meets with students in Los Angeles.
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 12

address the needs of English Learners. Many states and districts do not have data systems to track ELs over 

time, making it difficult to use data to improve instruction. There are also tremendous inconsistencies within 

many states in the identification and classification of ELs.

However, some states are showing progress in their efforts to change how EL services are delivered:

• Saint Paul Public School District, St. Paul, Minnesota, has focused solely on developing students’ 

English language proficiency by significantly expanding its dual language programs over the past five 

years. Five elementary schools now have a Spanish dual language program. These dual language 

programs are successful in producing bilingual students who are bicultural and bi-literate. The district 

also has developed cultural components and parent outreach efforts for EL students and families and 

designed professional development opportunities for district staff. From 2002 to 2005, the percentage 

of EL students in the district who were proficient on the Minnesota’s third-grade reading test 

increased from 30 percent to 52 percent. In 2005, the district’s students outperformed the state 

cohort by 6 percentage points. In addition, from 2003 to 2009, EL students in Saint Paul Public Schools 

have consistently outperformed EL students statewide on a variety of tests. In the Council of the Great 

City Schools’ Succeeding with English Language Learners 2009 report, the district was listed as having 

made among the best gains of the Great City Schools districts in closing the achievement gap between 

EL and non-EL students.

Accountability for ELs

The U.S. Department of 

Justice's Civil Rights Division 

and the U.S. Department of 

Education’s Office for Civil 

Rights reached a settlement 

agreement with the Boston 

School Committee that ensures 

English learner students will no 

longer be denied language 

support services based on a 

system that did not accurately 

assess or provide for their 

language needs. As a result of 

the agreement, more than 

4,000 students who were 

inappropriately characterized 

as having “opted out” of EL services will now have EL and compensatory services made available to them. In 

addition, approximately 4,300 students who were improperly identified as non-EL students, will, for the first 

time, be offered EL services.

Reforming No Child Left Behind

In March 2010, the Obama Administration released A Blueprint for Reform, a 41-page outline for reauthorizing 

the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). First passed in 

1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty, the ESEA’s focus was, and remains, ensuring that 

low-income students have access to an excellent education. The current reauthorization of this law offers a 

major opportunity to re-envision the federal role in education by supporting innovation in states and districts 

President Obama and Education Secretary Duncan meet with key education leaders in 

Miami.
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 13

through additional competitive grant funding and improved technical assistance and support, while still 

maintaining the traditional federal role of providing formula funding targeted toward high-need students.

Broadly, the Obama Administration’s proposal is defined by three words: fair, flexible and focused. It 

proposes a new, fair system of accountability that holds everyone to high standards and gives greater flexibility 

and support to most schools so they can develop solutions that will work for their students, while focusing on 

persistently low-performing schools and schools with significant achievement gaps. It also emphasizes

supporting schools and teachers in helping students reach high standards, while focusing on strategies to 

recognize and learn from success.

The Obama Administration’s plans for the ESEA would maintain the foundational funding provided by the 

federal government to school districts serving high-need students – including the $14.5 billion Title I formula 

program. At the same time, the Administration has proposed a $3 billion increase in K-12 funding under ESEA, 

and greater competitive funding to support states, school districts, nonprofits, and universities in developing 

and scaling up promising and proven approaches to long-standing challenges. These challenges include 

preparing and supporting teachers and leaders so they can be more effective, turning around low-performing 

schools, developing comprehensive approaches to meeting the full range of student needs, starting innovative 

new schools, and supporting high-quality instructional systems in literacy, STEM, and all the components of a 

well-rounded education.

ENSURING SUCCESS FOR LATINOS IN COLLEGE AND CAREER

In today’s global economy, a high-quality education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity—it is a

prerequisite to success. Over the next decade, nearly 8 in 10 new job openings in the U.S. will require some 

workforce training or postsecondary education. And of the thirty fastest growing occupations in America, half 

require at least a four-year college degree. Economic progress and education achievement are linked; 

therefore, educating every American student to not only graduate from high school but also be prepared for 

college is a national imperative. 

America once had one of the most educated workforces in the world but today, only about 40 percent of 

young adults have a college degree—ranking ninth in the world in college completion. While close to 70 

percent of high school graduates in the United States enroll in college within two years, only 57 percent 

graduate within six years. For low-income and minority students, the completion rate is closer to 45 percent. 

Students from high-income families are almost eight times as likely as their low-income peers to earn a 

bachelors degree by age 24. Closing this college attainment gap is critical to restoring America’s standing as a 

global leader in higher education. President Obama has articulated this as America’s goal: to once again have

the highest proportion of college graduates by the year 2020.

Building Latino Students’ Skills Through Community Colleges

Fifty years ago, President Harry Truman called for a national network of community colleges to dramatically 

expand opportunities for veterans returning from World War II. Today, faced with rapid technological change 

and global competition, community colleges are needed more than ever to raise American skills and education 

levels and keep American businesses competitive. Many Latino students earn their first college degree at 

America’s community colleges, and this investment helps students receive relevant education and training to 

help increase their skills, or to prepare to attend a four-year institution. 

Community colleges are the largest part of our higher education system, enrolling more than 6 million 

students, and growing rapidly. They feature affordable tuition, open admission policies, flexible course 
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 14

schedules, and convenient locations, and they are particularly important for students who are older, working, 

need remedial classes, or can only take classes part-time. They are also capable of working with businesses, 

industry and government to create tailored training programs to meet economic needs such as nursing, health 

information technology, advanced manufacturing, and green jobs, and of providing customized training at the 

worksite.

Business and industry play an important role in training the workforce of the future and meeting the on-going 

demands of the marketplace. Many community colleges are already working with businesses to develop 

programs and classes ranging from degrees to certified training courses for retraining and on-going training for 

enhancing skills. Yet nearly half of students who enter community college intending to earn a degree or 

transfer to a four-year college fail to reach their goal within six years. President Obama has proposed new 

steps to ensure that those credentials will help graduates get ahead in their careers. The Health Care and 

Education Reconciliation Act (HCERA) enacted last year includes a $2 billion investment to help America’s 

community colleges develop, improve, and expand education and career training to workers.

Latinos and Technical and Adult Education

During the past two years, there has also been an increase in 

the number of Latinos that have enrolled in technical education 

programs (89 percent in 2009–10 compared to 81 percent in 

2008–09) with half of those enrolled having earned a 

postsecondary credential (compared to 54 percent nationally) 

and 73 percent of Latino students transitioning to further 

education or employment (compared to 74 percent 

nationally). During the 2009-10 program year, more than 2.3 

million Latino students participated (took at least one course) 

in career and technical education, representing 19 percent of 

all students who participated in career and technical education 

nationally.

During the first two years of the Obama Administration (2008–

10), approximately 1.9 million Latinos enrolled in adult 

education programs to learn the English language and to 

improve their reading, writing and numeracy skills. This 

constitutes 42 percent of the entire adult education enrollment of 2.2 million students. Latinos comprised 69

percent of the English literacy program enrollment. 

Strengthening Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are essential to our higher education system and vital sources of strength 

for our Nation's students. More than half of America’s Latino undergraduates attend an HSI – that is, a public 

or private nonprofit college or university with a student body that is at least 25 percent Latino. HSIs, 

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) serve a 

higher proportion of low- and middle-income students than their peer institutions, and together they enroll 

nearly sixty percent of the Nation’s 4.7 million minority undergraduate students. HSIs are committed to 

improving the lives of their students as well as helping revitalize the communities where they serve.

Graduates of these institutions are helping expand our economy and enriching all aspects of our national life.

Now is the time to build a 

firmer, stronger foundation for 

growth that will not only 

withstand future economic 

storms, but one that helps us 

thrive and compete in a global 

economy. It’s time to reform 

our community colleges so that 

they provide Americans of all 

ages a chance to learn the 

skills and knowledge necessary 

to compete for the jobs of the 

future. 

—President Barack Obama
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 15

To prepare the next generation of great American leaders, President Obama has set a goal to have the highest 

proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. Enhancing education opportunities for Hispanics will be 

vital to achieving this objective, and we will need the continued leadership of HSIs to increase the enrollment, 

retention and graduation rates of our Hispanic students. Working together, we will open doors of opportunity 

for all our children and help them succeed on a global stage.

New policy efforts aimed at college persistence and completion will directly benefit the Latino community. 

Currently, Latino college enrollment is projected to increase faster than other groups—39 percent by 2017, 

compared to 5 percent for white students and 26 percent for African-American students. Latino enrollments 

in colleges and universities increased between 1980 and 2000, though a smaller proportion of Hispanics 

complete college compared to whites and blacks. Hispanic students are more likely than other students to be 

enrolled part time. In 2006–07, 43 percent of Hispanic undergraduates were enrolled part time. Most attend 

community colleges to obtain their associate’s or bachelor’s degree. 

HSIs play a pivotal role in the number of Hispanic students who receive postsecondary degrees. Although the 

334 Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the Nation accounted for only 5 percent of all institutions of higher 

education, in 2003–04, they enrolled 51 percent of all Hispanics pursuing higher education degrees in the U.S.

Through the HCERA, the federal 

government will invest an 

additional $2.55 billion in MSIs 

over the next decade—including 

$1 billion at America’s HSIs. This 

funding can be used to renew, 

reform, and expand higher 

education programs to ensure that 

Latinos are provided every chance 

to rise to their full potential, earn 

their degrees, and enter or reenter the workforce.

First in the World Fund

President Obama has requested 

nearly $123 million in FY 12 for the 

first year of the First in the World 

Fund, which would apply the 

lessons of the successful Investing 

in Innovation Program to the 

challenge of improving college completion, particularly for minority and low-income students. First in the 

World would provide “venture capital” to encourage innovation approaches to improving college completion, 

research support to build the evidence of effectiveness needed to identify successful strategies, and resources 

to scale up and disseminate strategies we already know are working.

Latinos and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

If the United States is going to out-educate, out-innovate, and out-build the rest of the world and create the 

industries of tomorrow and the jobs that come with it, we must continue to invest in educating the scientists, 

technologists and engineers who will develop these breakthroughs. Twenty-first century jobs require more 

President Obama meets with students he singled out in a speech on education 

to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, after they submitted a video talking 

about their families’ economic woes and asked, “Is anybody listening?”
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 16

advanced skills and knowledge than ever before; a high school degree is not enough. Georgetown University’s 

Center on Education and the Workforce forecast that 62 percent of the jobs in 2018 will require education 

beyond high school. Today, the 10 highest-paying college majors and fastest-growing occupations are STEMrelated. Unfortunately, Latinos significantly trail other minority groups when it comes to STEM-majors and 

graduates.

To change this situation, President Obama has challenged us to move from the middle to the top of the pack in 

math and science by 2020. Currently, U.S. students finish 21st of 30 Organisation for Economic Co-operation 

and Development (OECD) countries in science literacy. America’s highest-performing science students rank 

13th out of 30 OECD nations. In math literacy, U.S. students place 25th of 30 OECD countries, and our top 

math students are 23rd out of 30. The President also has set an ambitious goal of recruiting and training 

100,000 new STEM teachers by 2020 to ensure Latinos, and all students, have great STEM teachers in the 

classroom.

The President’s 2012 budget requests $146 billion for research and development. In addition, HCERA

guarantees $1 billion over the next 10 years for HSIs for STEM-focused initiatives. In cooperation with ED, the 

National Science Foundation’s Teacher Learning for the Future program will fund innovative efforts that 

design, develop, implement, and test new teacher-training programs. To bring undergraduates from groups 

historically underrepresented in STEM fields, the budget also doubles funding to $26 million for an 

overarching, comprehensive science and technology workforce program. These programs will be developed in 

conjunction with a government-wide effort to improve the impact of federal investments in math and science 

education by ensuring that all programs supporting K–12 and undergraduate education adhere to consistent 

standards of effectiveness. 

Improving College Affordability and Access for Latino Students

Over the span of three decades, the real, inflation-adjusted cost of tuition for private four-year colleges has 

more than doubled. Meanwhile, public four-year institutions, while still much cheaper than private colleges, 

have nearly tripled in “sticker” price over this period. Of course, given various grants and adjustments that 

schools make based on individual circumstances, most students do not pay the “sticker” price of 

postsecondary education, but many families still find the ‘net’ costs of college increasingly difficult to meet.

A new research study commissioned by the College Board, Cracking the Student Aid Code, has found that early 

awareness and a simplified student aid process are key to navigating the federal financial aid system, especially 

at a time when U.S. students and their families face rising college prices and stagnant incomes. Based on 

extensive focus-group and survey research with parents and students, the study found that nearly half of the 

parent respondents did not know the cost of attending a public college in their home state, and only 44 

percent of Latino parent respondents were aware of the Pell Grant program. 

Federal Financial Aid that Puts Students First: Strengthening Pell Grants

Making college affordable for all students is a top priority for the Administration. By shifting the nation’s 

student aid system to the Direct Loans program through the HCERA, Congress and the Obama Administration 

put an end to wasteful subsidies to banks and used savings to strengthen and stabilize funding for America’s 

Pell Grant recipients. 

The investments in the Pell Grant under the HCERA, coupled with the President’s previous investments, more 

than double the amount of funding available for Pell Grants, growing the award from $4,730 in 2008 to $5,550 

today. By academic year 2020–21, it is estimated that more than 150,000 additional Pell Grant awards would 

be made to Latino students due to the changes in the law. The 2011 continuing resolution, recently enacted by 
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 17

Congress, maintains the $5,550 maximum Pell award for low-income students, even in the face of intense 

budget pressure.

More Affordable Student Loans: Income-Based Repayment

The HCERA also provides student borrowers new choices in how they repay their loans, including an incomebased repayment option to cap monthly repayments at 10 percent of income for borrowers after 2014, and to 

have loans forgiven after 20 years. Public service workers—such as teachers, nurses, and those in military 

service—will see any remaining debt forgiven after 10 years. It is estimated that this expanded benefit will 

benefit approximately 143,000 Latino borrowers between 2014 and 2020.

Simplification of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid 

In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education took action to reduce the complexity of the Free Application for 

Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the amount of time necessary to complete it. The form now allows applicants 

to retrieve tax records electronically from the Internal Revenue 

Service, making it easier to complete the document. During the 

last two academic years, the number of federal student aid 

applicants increased by 35 percent—up from 16.4 million.

WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE ON 

EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR 

HISPANICS

First established in September 1990, the Initiative was created 

to advise the President and the Secretary of Education on 

issues related to Hispanics and to address academic excellence 

and opportunities for the Hispanic community. In May 2009, 

Juan Sepúlveda was appointed executive director. José Rico 

joined as deputy director in January 2010.

On Oct. 19, 2010, President Obama signed Executive Order 

13555 renewing the White House Initiative on Educational 

Excellence for Hispanics. The office also convened more than

300 national leaders at its National Education Summit and Call 

to Action on Oct. 18, 2010.

National Action Network

In the Obama Administration, the Initiative has created a national network of Latino leaders and key 

community stakeholders by convening more than 10,000 people in more than 100 communities in 35 states, 

including Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., in half-day Community Conversations. These Community 

Conversations served to reintroduce the office to the community, hear key challenges and priorities on the 

frontlines of the education system with respect to the Hispanic community, and enlist individuals and 

organizations to join the Initiative’s National Action Network to partner with others nationwide to work on 

these issues. 

White House Initiative Mission

To help restore the United 

States to its role as the global 

leader in education and to 

strengthen the nation by 

expanding education 

opportunities and improving 

education outcomes for 

Hispanics of all ages and by 

helping to ensure that all 

Hispanics receive a complete 

and competitive education 

that prepares them for college, 

a career, and productive and 

satisfying lives.
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 18

The Initiative has significantly enlarged the reach and size of the national network through community 

organizing, technology, and social media approaches—webcasts, community watch parties, interactive Skype 

conversations, national conference calls, videoconferencing, Facebook, You Tube videos, and Twitter.

Public-Private Partnerships

The Initiative’s top priority is identifying, helping organize, and strengthening public-private partnerships 

aimed at community education reform initiatives that increase Hispanic education attainment levels, thereby 

contributing to President Obama’s 2020 goal.

Based on the U.S. Hispanic demographics, in addition to other selection criteria, the Initiative is currently 

focusing on the following 33 communities in 13 states. Tier 1 communities are public-private partnerships that 

already exist or are close to being formed. Tier 2 communities are those that have voiced a desire to develop 

public-private partnerships in the near future.

The Initiative is seeking other communities that are interested in creating public-private partnerships and 

joining the Initiative’s national network.

Tier 1 Communities

• Phoenix, AZ

• Tucson, AZ

• Inland Empire, CA (Riverside, San 

Bernardino)

• Long Beach, CA

• Santa Ana, CA

• Miami-Dade County, FL

• Albuquerque, NM

• Las Cruces, NM

• Las Vegas, NV

• Providence, RI

• Rio Grande Valley, TX (Brownsville)

• San Antonio, TX

Tier 2 Communities

• Fresno/Merced

• Salinas, CA

• Los Angeles, CA 

• Sacramento, CA

• San Diego, CA

• San Francisco, CA

• San Jose, CA

• Denver, CO

• Bridgeport, CT

• Hartford, CT

• Orlando, FL

• Chicago, IL 

• Kansas City, KS

• Kansas City, MO

• New York, NY 

• Philadelphia, PA

• Austin, TX

• Dallas, TX

• El Paso, TX

• Houston, TX

• Laredo, TX

What the Latino Community Wants from the Public-Private Partnerships

Through our Community Conversations we found a general consensus as to what Latinos and community 

members require of the Initiative in our public-private partnerships:

1. Education Department opportunities (i.e., grants, resources, partnerships);
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 19

2. Education opportunities housed at other agencies (e.g., Head Start, U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Services; adult education/workforce development, U.S. Department of Labor; STEM-related programs, 

National Science Foundation, etc.);

3. Federal government opportunities for non-education- focused issues critical to the community (i.e., health 

care, housing, community development, etc.);

4. Private sector, philanthropic and nonprofit opportunities;

5. An active National Network whereby communities can communicate with one another directly;

6. Policy input;

7. Community problem-solving assistance; and 

8. Public-private partnership consulting (i.e., assistance with visioning, developing processes, operational

goals and procedures, legitimacy/creating the public will, etc.).

THE ROAD AHEAD: A COMPLETE AND COMPETITIVE EDUCATION FOR 

EVERY LATINO STUDENT

Remarks by the President at the signing of Executive Order 13555 renewing the White House Initiative on 

Educational Excellence for Hispanics, Oct. 19, 2010

THE PRESIDENT: Excellent. Everybody, please be seated. Welcome to the White House, everybody. Thank 

you, Javier, for that outstanding introduction. I will not play you at chess. (Laughter.) You may not have won at 

the nationals, but you’d beat me. (Laughter.) And then Malia and Sasha would laugh about it. (Laughter.) We 

are very proud of you and we’re glad you are here.

Thank you also to the University of Texas-Pan American Mariachis who performed for us. (Applause.) And hello 

to everybody across the country participating in watch parties and in education reform efforts in your own 

communities. It’s precisely that kind of participation—engaging the American people, giving all of you more 

say in the policies that affect your lives, and holding ourselves accountable to deliver real results in return—

that is at the heart of a new Executive Order I’m about to sign to strengthen the White House Initiative on 

Educational Excellence for Hispanics. (Applause.)

Now, before I sign this document, I’d like to acknowledge a few people who have been and will continue to be 

instrumental to our success: our Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, Thelma 

Meléndez de Santa Ana—(applause) —our Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education, Eduardo Ochoa—

(applause) —and our Assistant Deputy Secretary, Rosalinda Barrera. (Applause.)

I also want to thank Eduardo Padrón, the president of Miami Dade Community College, who has been a leader 

in my Administration’s efforts to strengthen America’s community colleges. And because that's not enough, in 

addition to running a community college he’s also agreed to serve as the chair of this initiative’s Presidential 

Advisory Commission. So we are grateful to you. (Applause.) This will be a group of 30 Latino leaders who are 

going to make sure that, when it comes to our children’s education, my administration hears the voices of the 

Latino community loud and clear.

And I also want to give a special recognition to our recently confirmed Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, 
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 20

Raul Yzaguirre. (Applause.) It was Raul’s vision and tenacious commitment to equal education for all our 

people that helped this initiative become a reality back in 1990 under George H.W. Bush. And so we are very 

proud that he is here today to see that his work continues.

The question then back in 1990 is the same question we face now: How do we best improve educational 

opportunities and outcomes for our Hispanic students? Over the past year and a half, under Juan Sepúlveda’s 

leadership—and Juan, thank you for your outstanding work—(applause) —over the last year and a half, this 

initiative has worked to gather the answers from those who know best: people in communities across this 

country. Juan hosted more than a hundred conversations. He’s taken comments from more than 10,000 

Americans. And he’s worked with leaders from more than 30 

states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, to come 

up with real solutions that work best for our kids.

We know why this is so important. Today, Latinos make up the 

largest minority group in America’s schools— more than one in 

five students overall—and they face challenges of monumental 

proportions. Latino students are more likely to attend our lowestperforming schools, more likely to learn in larger class sizes, more 

likely to drop out at higher rates. Fewer than half take part in early 

childhood education. Only about half graduate on time from high 

school. And those who do make it to college often find themselves 

underprepared for its rigors. In just a single generation, America 

has fallen from first to ninth in college completion rates for all our 

students.

Now, this is not just a Latino problem; this is an American 

problem. We’ve got to solve it because if we allow these trends to

continue, it won’t just be one community that falls behind—we 

will all fall behind together. At a time when the unemployment 

rate for Americans who’ve never gone to college is almost double 

what it is for those who have gone to college; when most of the 

new jobs that are being created require some higher education; 

when other countries are out-educating us today to out-compete 

us tomorrow; making sure that we offer all our kids, regardless of 

race, a world-class education is more than a moral obligation. It is 

an economic imperative if we want to succeed in the 21st century.

And that’s why, when I took office, I set two big goals for American education. One was to make sure all our 

students, like the ones who are here with us today, receive a complete and competitive education from cradle 

to career. And number two, by the year 2020—the year Javier will graduate from college— America will once 

again have a higher share of college graduates than any other nation on Earth. That is our goal. (Applause.) 

Now, improving educational outcomes for the Hispanic community is critical to reaching these overall goals. 

And reaching these goals is behind every battle that we’ve waged on behalf of our children’s education since I 

took office.

We are expanding and reforming early childhood education so that our children aren’t behind by the time they 

reach the schoolhouse door. We’re challenging programs that don’t measure up to compete for their funding, 

President Obama talks with Javier Garcia 

of Brownsville, Texas, before entering the 

East Room for the signing ceremony of 

Executive Order 13555 renewing the 

White House Initiative on Educational

Excellence for Hispanics, October 2010.
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 21

because if you’re receiving tax dollars, you’d better be able to deliver results for our children.

We’ve launched a “Race to the Top,” encouraging states to change their schools from the bottom up for all our 

children—black, white, and Latino alike. Already, 48 states and D.C. have competed to raise standards, 

improve curricula, and turn around struggling schools. And we’ll take steps to recruit and train more good 

teachers, including bilingual teachers. 

We’re tackling the dropout crisis that affects the Hispanic community more than any other community. And 

we’re challenging states and communities to turn around our 5,000 worst schools, including many of the ones 

that produce the most Latino and African-American dropouts.

To reach the second goal that I’ve set, leading the world in the proportion of college graduates, we’re offering 

middle-class families the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which is a tax credit worth up to $2,500 a year 

that’s already helped put the dream of a college degree within the reach of more than 12 million students 

from working families.

We’re upgrading our community colleges so that we can link students looking for work with businesses looking 

to hire. We’re funding and implementing the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill so our veterans, including our outstanding 

Latino veterans, can come home to the same chance to earn a college education as my grandfather had when 

he came back from World War II.

We’re eliminating $60 billion over the next decade in wasteful giveaways to banks that profited from a broken 

student loan system, and we’re using that money to make college more affordable for millions of students. In 

fact, we estimate that these steps will make college more affordable for more than 150,000 additional Latino 

students.

And as I’ve said before, Congress should finally pass the [Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors]

DREAM Act. I’ve supported this bill—(applause) —I have supported this bill for years, and I’ll do everything it 

takes to sign it into law on behalf of students seeking a college education and those who wish to serve in our 

country’s uniform.

Turning around our troubled schools. Putting the dream of a college education within the reach of working 

families. Educating our kids—all of them— to graduate ready for college, ready for a career, ready to make the 

most of their lives. That’s what we’re doing. That is why we’re here.

But while strengthening Hispanic education in America is the purpose of this initiative, it’s not something that 

can fall on the Department of Education alone. I expect agencies across the federal government to take this 

initiative seriously and support its mission. And it’s also not something that government can do by itself. It’s 

going to take all of us—public and private sectors, teachers and principals, all of you at home at those watch 

parties, parents getting involved in their kids’ education, and students giving their best—because the farther 

they go in school, the farther they will go in life, and that means the farther we’ll go as a country.

I know there will be cynics out there who say that this improvement that we’re seeking is not possible; that the 

reforms won’t work; the problems in our education system are too entrenched. It’s easy to think that way.

This initiative, for example, has been around for 20 years, and we still face many of the same challenges. And 

it’s true, as I’ve said ever since I ran for this office—and as everyone here knows firsthand—that change is 

hard. Change takes time. Fixing what is broken in our education system will not be easy. We won’t see results 

overnight. It may take years, even decades, for all these changes to pay off.
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 22

But that’s no reason not to get started. That’s no reason not to strive for these changes. That’s a reason for 

us, in fact, to start making them right now. It’s a reason for us to follow through. And as long as I’m President, 

I will not give in to calls to shortchange any of our students. (Applause.) 

So in the end, this is about building a brighter future where every child in this country—black, white, Latino, 

Asian, or Native American; regardless of color, class, creed —has a chance to rise above any barrier to fulfill 

their God-given potential. It’s about keeping the promise at the heart of this country that we love. The promise 

of a better life. The promise that our children will dream bigger, hope deeper, climb higher than we could ever 

imagine. That’s the promise that so many of you work to advance each and every day in your own respective 

fields. And as long as I have the privilege of being your President, that’s a promise that I intend to work to 

keep. 

Thank you very much, everybody. Now I’m going to sign this initiative. Thank you. (Applause.)

###

White House Initiative staff and 2009–10 summer interns at the executive order signing ceremony, 

October 2010.
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 23

APPENDIX A: ADDITIONAL EDUCATION-RELATED INFORMATION

The following Web sites provide additional information and resource materials on the work, activities and 

programs of the White House Initiative and U.S. Department of Education. 

 White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics – Facebook Page

Scan the bar code above with your mobile device to be taken directly to the White House Initiative’s 

Facebook page.

• Executive Order Signing Ceremony - Video

 White House Initiative for Excellence in Education for Hispanics – Web Page

 Es el Momento: Univision Education Town Hall with President Obama

 U.S. Department of Education

• Discretionary Grant Applications

• Race to the Top

 Federal Student Aid
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 24

APPENDIX B: EXECUTIVE ORDER—WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE ON 

EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR HISPANICS

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

__________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release October 19, 2010 

Executive Order—White House Initiative On Educational Excellence For Hispanics

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, to 

restore the country to its role as the global leader in education, to strengthen the Nation by expanding 

educational opportunities and improving educational outcomes for Hispanics and Latinos (Hispanics) of all 

ages, and to help ensure that all Hispanics receive an education that properly prepares them for college, 

productive careers, and satisfying lives, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. At more than 52 million strong, including 4 million in Puerto Rico, Hispanics constitute the 

country's largest and fastest growing minority group. They have had a profound and positive impact on our 

country through, among other things, their community's strong commitment to family, faith, hard work, and 

service. Many Hispanics contribute to this Nation bilingually in the English and Spanish languages -- a true 

asset for our country in an increasingly global, interdependent world.

Hispanic students are the largest minority group in our Nation's schools, numbering more than 11 million in 

our public elementary and secondary school system, and constituting more than 22 percent of all pre-K–12 

students. Hispanic students face educational challenges of crisis proportions. Fewer than half of all Hispanic 

children participate in early childhood education programs, and far too few Hispanic students graduate from 

high school; of those who do complete high school, many are not adequately prepared for college. Only 12 

percent of adult Hispanics have a bachelor's degree, and just 3 percent have completed graduate or 

professional degree programs. At the same time, large numbers of Hispanic adults lack the education or 

literacy skills they need to advance their careers; they also are less likely than members of other groups to 

have taken job- or career-related courses, with the exception of basic education classes, such as English as a 

second language.

Our country was built on and continues to thrive on its diversity, and there is no doubt that the future of the 

United States is inextricably linked to the future of the Hispanic community. To reach the ambitious education 

goals we have set for our Nation, as well as to ensure equality of opportunity for all, we must provide the 

opportunities that will enable Hispanic students to raise their educational attainment at every level of the 

American education system. America's future competitiveness in our global economy will be substantially 

enhanced by improving educational outcomes for Hispanics.

Sec. 2. White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.

(a) Establishment. There is established the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics 

(Initiative), to be housed in the Department of Education (Department). The mission of the Initiative shall be 

to help restore the United States to its role as the global leader in education and to strengthen the Nation by 
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 25

expanding educational opportunities and improving educational outcomes for Hispanics of all ages and by 

helping to ensure that all Hispanics receive a complete and competitive education that prepares them for 

college, a career, and productive and satisfying lives.

(b) Initiative Administration. There shall be an

Executive Director of the Initiative, to be appointed by the Secretary of Education (Secretary). The Initiative 

shall be advised by the Commission established under section 3 of this order and supported by the Working 

Group established under subsection (c) of this section. The Department shall provide the staff, resources, and 

assistance for the Initiative and the Working Group. To the extent permitted by law, departments, agencies, 

and offices represented on the Working Group shall provide resources, including personnel detailed to the 

Initiative, to assist the Department in meeting the objectives of this order.

(c) Interagency Working Group.

(1) There is established the Federal Interagency Working Group on Educational Excellence for Hispanics 

(Working Group), which shall be convened and chaired by the Initiative's Executive Director.

(2) The Working Group shall consist of senior officials from the Department, the White House Domestic 

Policy Council, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as 

such additional departments, agencies, and offices as the President may designate. Senior officials shall 

be designated by the heads of their respective departments, agencies, and offices.

(3) The Initiative's Executive Director may establish subgroups of the Working Group to focus on 

different aspects of the educational system or educational challenges facing Hispanics, such as early 

childhood education, K−12 education, higher education, career and technical education, language 

acquisition, and adult education.

(d) Initiative Objectives.

(1) To expand educational opportunities, improve education outcomes, and deliver a complete and 

competitive education for all Hispanics, the Initiative shall, consistent with law, promote, encourage, 

and undertake efforts designed to meet the following objectives:

(i) increasing general understanding of the causes of the educational challenges faced by Hispanic 

students;

(ii) increasing the percentage of Hispanic children who enter kindergarten ready for success by 

improving access by Hispanics to high-quality programs and services that encourage the early learning 

and development of children from birth through age 5;

(iii) implementing successful and innovative education reform strategies and practices in America's 

public schools to ensure that Hispanic students, like their peers, receive a rigorous and well-rounded 

education, and have access to student support services that will prepare them for college, a career, and 

civic participation;

(iv) ensuring that all Hispanic students have access to excellent teachers and school leaders, in part by 

supporting efforts to improve the recruitment, preparation, development, and retention of successful 
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 26

Hispanic teachers and school leaders and other effective teachers and school leaders responsible for the 

education of Hispanic students;

(v) reducing the dropout rate of Hispanic students and helping Hispanic students graduate from high 

school prepared for college and a career, in part by promoting a positive school climate and supporting 

successful and innovative dropout prevention and recovery strategies that better engage Hispanic 

youths in their learning, help them catch up academically, and provide those who have left the 

educational system with pathways to reentry;

(vi) increasing college access and success for Hispanic students and providing support to help ensure 

that a greater percentage of Hispanics complete college and contribute to the goal of having America 

again lead the world in the proportion of college graduates by 2020, in part through strategies to 

strengthen the capacity of Hispanic-Serving Institutions, community colleges, and other institutions of 

higher education serving large numbers of Hispanic students; and

(vii) enhancing the educational and life opportunities of Hispanics by fostering positive family and 

community engagement, improving the quality of, and expanding access to, adult education, literacy, 

and career and technical education, as well as increasing opportunities for education and career 

advancement in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

(2) In working to fulfill its mission and objectives, the Initiative shall, consistent with law:

(i) help ensure that Federal programs and initiatives administered by the Department and other 

agencies are serving and meeting the needs of Hispanic children, youths, and adults;

(ii) work closely with the Executive Office of the President on key Administration priorities related to 

the education of Hispanics;

(iii) increase the Hispanic community's participation in, and capacity to participate in, the Department's 

programs and education-related programs at other executive departments and agencies;

(iv) advise Department officials and, through the Working Group, other agency officials on issues 

related to the Hispanic community and the educational attainment of Hispanic students;

(v) advise the Secretary on the development, implementation, and coordination of educational 

programs and initiatives at the Department and other agencies designed to improve educational 

opportunities and outcomes for Hispanics of all ages;

(vi) encourage and develop partnerships with public, private, philanthropic, and nonprofit stakeholders 

to improve Hispanics' readiness for school, college, and career, as well as their college persistence and 

completion; and

(vii) develop a national network of individuals, organizations, and communities to share and implement 

best practices related to the education of Hispanics.

(3) The Initiative shall periodically publish reports on its activities. The Secretary and the Executive 

Director of the Initiative, in consultation with the Interagency Working Group and the Chair of the 

Commission established under section 3 of this order, may develop and submit to the President 
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 27

recommendations designed to advance and promote educational opportunities and attainment for 

Hispanics, including recommendations for short- and long-term initiatives.

(e) Collaboration Among White House Initiatives. The White House Initiatives on Educational Excellence for 

Hispanics, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Asian-American and 

Pacific Islanders shall work together whenever appropriate in light of their shared objectives.

Sec. 3. President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. There is established the 

President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics (Commission) in the Department.

(a) Commission Mission and Scope. The Commission shall advise the President and the Secretary on matters 

pertaining to the educational attainment of the Hispanic community, including:

(1) developing, implementing, and coordinating educational programs and initiatives at the Department 

and other agencies to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for Hispanics of all ages;

(2) increasing the participation of the Hispanic community and Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the 

Department's programs and in education programs at other agencies;

(3) engaging the philanthropic, business, nonprofit, and education communities in a national dialogue 

regarding the mission and objectives of this order; and

(4) establishing partnerships with public, private, philanthropic, and nonprofit stakeholders to meet the 

mission and policy objectives of this order.

The Commission shall meet periodically, but at least twice a year, and may work through task forces composed 

exclusively of Commission members, as appropriate.

(b) Commission Membership and Chair.

(1) The Commission shall consist of no more than 30 members appointed by the President. The 

Commission may include individuals with relevant experience or subject matter expertise that the 

President deems appropriate, as well as individuals who may serve as representatives of a variety of 

sectors, including the education sector (early childhood education, elementary and secondary 

education, higher education, career and technical education, and adult education), labor organizations, 

research institutions, corporate and financial institutions, public and private philanthropic organizations, 

and nonprofit and community-based organizations at the national, State, regional, or local levels.

(2) The President shall designate one of the members to serve as Chair of the Commission, who shall 

work with the Initiative's Executive Director to convene regular meetings of the Commission, determine 

its agenda, and direct its work, consistent with this order.

(c) Commission Administration. The Executive Director of the Initiative shall also serve as the Executive 

Director of the Commission and administer the work of the Commission. The Department shall provide 

funding and administrative support for the Commission, to the extent permitted by law. Members of the 

Commission shall serve without compensation but shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu 

of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons serving intermittently in the Government service (5 U.S.C. 

5701-5707). Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.) (Act), may apply to 
President Obama’s Agenda: Improving Education for the Latino Community 28

the administration of the Commission, any functions of the President under the Act, except that of reporting to 

the Congress, shall be performed by the Secretary, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the 

Administrator of General Services.

Sec. 4. General Provisions.

(a) This order supersedes Executive Order 13230 of October 12, 2001.

(b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 

enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its 

officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

 BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,

October 19, 2010.