U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige and Mexico Secretary of Public Education Reyes Tamez Guerra co-chaired a meeting of the U.S.-Mexico Binational Commission Education Working Group on November 8-9 in Mexico City, Mexico.

Secretaries Paige and Tamez renewed formal bilateral cooperation through the signing of Annex VIII to a Memorandum of Understanding between Mexico and the United States. This agreement outlines the activities in which the U.S. and Mexico will work together to strengthen educational opportunities for Hispanic students in the following areas: migrant education, language acquisition, higher education, special education, vocational and adult education, educational technology, teacher exchange options, visas for educational and cultural visits and development of bicultural study programs.

"Through this agreement, we will improve our cooperation, communication and collaboration, from the border region to the Interior and everywhere in between," Secretary Paige said. "So in both nations, we are working to instill higher standards at earlier grade levels. The spirit of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act is simple but profound—every child and every adult can learn, and we have an obligation to make sure they do. It is a spirit that both nations share. And we renew that spirit with this Education Working Group Meeting."

The main purposes of the agreement are to foster dialogue between policy makers on education issues of mutual concern, and to facilitate links between educators, policy makers and researchers at all levels of the education systems in both countries. The agreement is renewed every two years through the signing of a new Annex, giving both countries an opportunity to modify existing plans for cooperation.

The Department engages in more education-related cooperation with Mexico than with any other country, primarily due to our geographic proximity and the very large U.S. student population of Mexican origin. Many state education agencies in both countries, as well as individual educational institutions, also actively engage in bilateral activities.

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