U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will visit East Technical High School on Wednesday, Sept. 7, for “Connecting Cleveland’s Communities and Classrooms,” a panel discussion on community partnerships in education. Participants will include Joshua DuBois, executive director of The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships; Acting CEO for the Corporation for National and Community Service, Robert Velasco II; state Superintendent of Public Instruction Stan Heffner; Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson; Cleveland schools CEO Eric Gordon, and the panel will be moderated by Kim Wheeler of Cleveland’s NBC 3. The discussion will aim to encourage community-based organizations to become more invested in the educational success of students. Duncan will give brief remarks, engage in a conversation with participants and the panelists will take questions from the audience. Media availability will follow.
Duncan’s visit to Cleveland is part of “Education and the Economy,” a 3-day back-to-school bus tour to states around the Great Lakes. Other senior staff will visit Cleveland and other cities across the region as part of a series of events that will highlight the role education plays in boosting the economy.
Earlier that day, Brenda Girton-Mitchell, director of the Department’s Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, will arrive at East Technical High School where she and DuBois will hold a Community partnership discussion in advance of Duncan's panel. Greg Darnieder, senior advisor to the secretary on the College Access Initiative, and Brenda Dann-Messier, assistant secretary for vocational and adult education, will also visit two local area schools, Cuyahoga Community College and Valley Forge High School, respectively. Their school visits will engage local students, teachers and administrators in discussions on education reforms and innovations that are providing students of all ages with the knowledge and skills they need to be part of a well-educated workforce in the growing global economy.
Today, in advance of Duncan’s visit, two senior staff are participating in events in the Cleveland-area. Michael Yudin, acting assistant secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, will take part in a meeting hosted by Rep. Marcia Fudge that will include CEO Eric Gordon and more than a dozen area school superintendents to address issues facing public school districts. Following the meeting, Yudin will participate in a “Let’s Move!” event at Solon High School to promote healthy lifestyles and physical and nutrition awareness. Lomas Brown, a former Cleveland Brown and a current analyst for ESPN, will also participate.
Deputy Secretary Tony Miller and Deputy Chief of Staff Eric Waldo travel to Cleveland on Thursday, Sept. 8, following Duncan’s visit. Miller will host a White House business council roundtable and Waldo will visit two public charter schools: Near West Intergenerational School and Entrepreneurship (E-Prep) Preparatory School. More information about these events will follow in a separate advisory.