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OCR Page 1 of 15WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE ON
EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR HISPANIC AMERICANS
It is essential to understand that each step in the education system is a building block Research shows that children
succeed when schools recognize and support parents as the child's primary teacher; when parents are welcomed and
involved in all aspects of school life These conditions routinely exist in middle-class, white schools Such routine
conditions often do not exist in low-income and Latino schools.
Our Nation on the Fault Line: Hispanic American Education
President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
The Creation of Excelencia en Educación
Excelencia en Educación: The Role of Parents in the Education of Their Children, is a series of
conferences sponsored by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.
The decision to focus on the role of parents was based on the conviction that the heart of the Latino
community is the family. Latino parents know that a quality education provides their children with the
skills to achieve the best this country has to offer. America needs the talents of all its citizens to face the
challenges of the 21st century. As the fastest growing community in the country, Latinos still have lower
educational attainment rates than other groups--a cause for great national concern.
First, a little more background: The White House Initiative supports a Commission appointed by
President Clinton in 1994 comprised of national educational leaders from all segments of the educational
pipeline. In 1996, the Commission submitted to the President their report, Our Nation on the Fault
Line: Hispanic American Education. This comprehensive report lays out issues in Latino educational
attainment from pre-K through graduate and professional education. Equally important, the report
includes an action plan for federal, state and local levels.
The Clinton Administration used the report as they developed their Hispanic Education Action Plan
announced by Vice-President Gore in February 1998. The President's plan provides over $520 million in
new educational investments for programs that can make a difference in the quality of education for
hundreds of thousands of bright, capable, Latino students. Responding to the Administration's
achievement, the White House Initiative developed a strategy to more directly engage the Latino
community in the pursuit of a quality education. Thus, the stage was set for the Excelencia conference
series.
The academic emphasis of the conference is mathematics, reading and college readiness. The focus is on
powerful strategies for parents to more fully engage in supporting their children's education. The
conference covers how schools, teachers, civic leaders, community-based organizations, business and
federal agencies can reach out to parents and more fully engage them in their children's education. By
sharing "promising practices" and educational information, conference participants should have even
better ideas for brightening the future of young Hispanics and prepared to serve as catalysts for enhancing
parental involvement throughout the nation.
The first Excelencia en Educación was launched in October 1998 with AVANCE in San Antonio, Texas.
For the inaugural conference, the White House Initiative brought together five federal agencies--
Education, Health and Human Services, Labor, Interior, and the Small Business Administration-as well
as over four hundred parents, educators, Latino advocacy organizations and leaders from the private
sector. Small Business Administrator Aida Alvarez and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus,
Representative Ruben Hinojosa and Representative Ciro Rodriguez participated. Univision, the largest
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