Congresswoman Maxine Waters Applauds President Obama’s Executive Order on Improving Educational Outcomes for African Americans

Today, President Obama signed an executive order creating the White House Initiative on Improving Education Outcomes for African Americans. Congresswoman Waters' statement regarding the signing of this executive order is below:

"I am pleased that President Obama has signed an executive order focused on improving educational outcomes for African American students. For three years, I, along with the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), have worked diligently with the Obama Administration to develop a mechanism within the Executive Branch to comprehensively address the state of African American education. This work has included dozens of meetings, workshops, and legislative drafts to explore the best ways to improve educational outcomes for African American students."

"The President's initiative will provide African American students with the type of comprehensive and in-depth educational policies they need to ensure that they are successful in their studies and their future careers. Like the executive orders established for Hispanic, Native American, and Asian American and Pacific Islanders, this executive order will elevate the educational achievement of African Americans to a national priority."

"Improving educational outcomes for African American students is important given the challenges these students face. For example, 10 percent of African Americans drop out of high school before graduating; a statistic that is higher than the national average. By focusing on the complete pipeline of our educational system—from pre-school through graduate school—the President's initiative has the potential to ensure that the generational cycle of educational underachievement in the African American community becomes a thing of the past.

"I commend the President for his leadership on this very important issue. I am very excited about the creation of this initiative and I look forward to continuing to work with President Obama, the leadership of this new initiative, and my colleagues in Congress on the successful implementation of this initiative."

###