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Wednesday, 23 April, 2008 5:04 PM
U.S. Secretary of
Education Margaret Spellings Makes
Policy Announcement at the DEC
Photo
credit: Jeff Kowalsky
Secretary
Margaret Spellings at the Detroit Economic Club on April 22, 2008.
DETROIT -- The
Honorable Margaret Spellings, Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
announced new federal initiatives at the Detroit Economic Club meeting
at The Masonic. To mark the 25th anniversary of the landmark report,
A Nation at Risk, Education Secretary Spellings outlined new actions
to move the accountability movement forward, including administrative
steps to tackle the high school dropout crisis, help more students
access high-quality free tutoring, and help improve chronically
underperforming schools. She also called for the states to get more
information to the public.
“Building on the
work of the National Governors Association, today’s actions
will require states to establish a uniform high school graduation
rate that shows how many incoming freshman end up with a diploma
at the end of their senior year within four years and how many drop
out. In addition, we plan to make this data publicly available so
that people nationwide understand fully how students of every race
and background are doing in this country.”
Secretary Spellings pointed
out that in the city of Detroit three out of four boys and two out
of three girls are not graduating from high school, and the school
system must make radical changes to address difficult issues, but
there are signs of hope.
“We can do better,
I know we can and in many cases we already are. At Chrysler Elementary
school here in Detroit, almost every student is reading and doing
math at or above grade level. At the Detroit School of the Arts,
where I’m going to visit later today, most students not only
earn high school diplomas, but they earn millions in college scholarships.
At Henry Ford Academy in Dearborn, wherever you are out there, nearly
one hundred percent of the students there go on to higher education.
That is the kind of future all of us want for our children - all
of us should expect for our children here in Detroit and all over
this country.”
Education has also been
a primary focus of the Detroit Economic Club. Students from Lake
Orion High School, Livonia Public Schools, Pontiac Central High
School, Dearborn Divine Child, Caesar Chavez Academy High School,
Henry Ford Academy, and Crockett Technical High School listened
to and asked questions of Secretary Spellings.
The Detroit Economic
Club was formed in 1934 as a platform for the discussion and debate
of important business, government and social issues. It is known
internationally as a top speaking forum for prominent business and
government leaders, who address members and their guests at the
Club's 35 meetings a season. With more than 3,200 members, the DEC
is about vital issues, prominent voices, a commitment to education
and inspiring leadership. The Club is proud to have hosted every
sitting U.S. President since Richard Nixon and proud to have been
ranked among the top speaking platforms for CEOs.
Source: Detroit Economic
Club
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