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Washington D.C. — Education in the Hispanic community took center stage at a two-day conference hosted by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. Some 200 Hispanic leaders from across the country convened in our nation's capital to discuss the common goal of raising Hispanic student achievement. The two-day event, called "Pathways to Hispanic Family Learning," focused on the importance of family and community involvement in the education of our students and finding effective ways to provide valuable information about education to Hispanic Americans in English and Spanish.

"We come together to share ideas and celebrate a new path in this country leading us to educational excellence for all children," said Spellings. "It all started when President Bush brought Democrats and Republicans together to pass the historic No Child Left Behind Act. This law is based on the belief that with a good education, all children can learn and achieve to high standards. Just three years later, we are seeing the results. In states across the country, test scores are rising and the achievement gap between minority and white students is finally starting to close."

Public and private organizations united in this effort to better serve the educational needs of the Hispanic family. Representatives from community-based, nonprofit and faith-based organizations as well as from corporations and federal agencies participated in a range of panel discussions and made presentations on their efforts to engage all members of the Hispanic family in the learning process. Secretary Spellings opened the event by expressing her satisfaction at seeing Hispanic students' academic achievement starting to rise across the country.

"Just recently, we learned that the number of Hispanic third-graders in Maryland meeting state standards in reading increased by more than 20 percentage points over the last two years," said Spellings. "And in New York state, we learned that a majority of Hispanic fourth-graders had met all state standards in English for the first time ever. And these are just a couple of examples of the good news we are hearing from schools across the country. Simply put, we can now say confidently that this law is working!"

Secretary Spellings also announced that the Department is developing a new toolkit to help inform Hispanic families about their rights and benefits under No Child Left Behind with valuable information on topics from supplemental educational services, including free tutoring, to parental involvement and school choice.

Other featured speakers at the event included U.S. Treasurer Anna Cabral; Ruben Barrales, White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs; Daniel Garza from the White House Office of Public Liaison; and Adam Chavarria, the executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.

"More than ever, education must be the uniting force in this country," said Chavarria. "An educated America is a strong America, and in order to achieve this goal, we must continue the progress made under No Child Left Behind. To finally close the achievement gap and stop the exceedingly high dropout rate that has plagued the Hispanic community for far too long, we must engage Hispanic families—la familia—as full partners in this effort. Working together, we can and will raise Hispanic student achievement across America."

Panel discussions were held on topics from education research to the role of nonprofit and faith-based organizations in helping students achieve success. The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans organized the event because it recognizes that public and private institutions, in addition to the family, are essential elements that contribute to the educational growth and development of children, youths and adults. The U.S. Department of Education and these organizations provide a wealth of education information, materials and tools to help families support their children's education. To access information from the Department, visit www.ed.gov, www.YesICan.gov, or www.YoSiPuedo.gov.

The speech is available at http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/2005/06/06162005.html

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