U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today announced the appointment of John J. Porter as director of the Department's Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

"John Porter is a leader in our nation's army of compassion," said U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige. "Some of the most successful, uplifting and effective programs to help children are run by faith-based and community organizations. We plan to utilize the hundreds of faith-based and community soldiers around the country to ensure that every child of every religion, race and ethnicity gets the best education America can offer them, and John will help guide our efforts."

Porter, an attorney from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has extensive experience with faith-based and community organizations having served on the board of an inner city faith-based school in Pittsburgh. He dedicated his life to advocating a quality education for children of all backgrounds after witnessing first-hand the desperate plight of inner city kids who were not being well served by their school systems.

"The No Child Left Behind Act recognizes the important role faith-based organizations and leaders play in America's communities. Whether through tutoring, after-school programs, mentoring, or parent training, faith-based and community organizations have worked for years to leave no child behind."

The Center is a White House initiative created by President George W. Bush to enlist, equip, enable, empower and expand the heroic works of faith-based and community groups across America. President Bush signed the Executive Order creating the Initiative on January 29, 2001 and declared that his Administration is committed to identifying and removing needless barriers that thwart the heroic work of these organizations. The Department of Education is one of five federal cabinet agencies with a Faith-Based and Community Initiative Center.

The Center at the U.S. Department of Education has the unique job of helping to implement the new No Child Left Behind Act by harnessing the abilities of faith-based and community organizations to ensure that every child meets his or her fullest potential.

Prior to his appointment, Porter practiced law in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He earned a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1987 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1981. Porter is married and has three daughters.

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