President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans

In a White House ceremony Oct. 12, 2001, flanked by students, prominent Hispanic appointees, community leaders, artists and other guests, President George W. Bush signed Executive Order 13230, establishing the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. The purpose of the 20-member commission was to work collectively to address the education issues facing Hispanic-American students.

Commission Objectives

With these principles in mind, the commission was tasked with developing a multiyear action plan aimed at closing the educational achievement gap between Hispanic students and their non-Hispanic peers. In doing so, they would ensure that the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population not only graduates from high school at the same rate as their peers, but that they enroll in college and obtain a degree.

The commission's objectives included:

1. Plans for a coordinated effort among parents, community leaders, business leaders, educators and public officials at the local, state, and federal levels;
2. Development of a monitoring system that measures effectiveness and holds all executive branch departments and agencies accountable for the coordination of federal efforts to ensure Hispanic Americans participate in federal education programs;
3. Identification of successful methods employed throughout the nation in increasing parental, state, local, private sector and community involvement in improving education for Hispanic Americans; and
4. Application of federal government education programs to ensure Hispanic parents successfully prepare their children to attend postsecondary institutions.

Over a period of 18 months, the commission heard from over 1,600 parents, students, educators, community and business leaders, and education experts at 11 commission meetings and four unprecedented bilingual town halls. This work resulted in an interim report that was submitted to the president on Sept. 30, 2002. The Road to a College Diploma: The Complex Reality of Raising Educational Achievement for Hispanics in the United States [PDF, 1.1M] contained the commission's initial findings on the state of Hispanic education in the U.S., and outlined the education issues that required the nation's attention to close the achievement gap.

On March 31, 2003, the commission submitted its final report to the president, From Risk to Opportunity: Fulfilling the Educational Needs of Hispanic Americans in the 21st Century, which contained six recommendations for increasing the educational achievement of Hispanics. These recommendations encompassed the entire education continuum, from early childhood education through postsecondary degree attainment, as well as recommendations to improve federal accountability, coordination and research.