David Johns, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans (WHIEEAA), will participate on a panel at the National Action Network’s (NAN) Education Policy Forum at 10:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, July 9, in Washington, D.C.
The panel will be moderated by Marcus Bright of Education for a Better America. Joining Johns on the panel are Mary Pat Hector, NAN’s National Youth Director, and Hilary Shelton, NAACP’s Washington Bureau Director and Senior Vice President for Advocacy.
The Education Policy Forum is one of several panels on key domestic topics during NAN’s 2014 Policy and Legislative Conference, July 8-9. Founded in 1991 by the Rev. Al Sharpton, NAN promotes a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for one standard of justice, decency and equal opportunities for all people regardless of race, religion, nationality or gender.
President Obama has proposed a new initiative called Race to the Top-Equity and Opportunity (RTT-Opportunity) as part of his budget request, to create incentives for states and school districts to drive comprehensive change in how states and districts identify and close opportunity and achievement gaps.
WHIEEAA, created in 2012 by Executive Order, is a cross-agency effort that aims to identify evidence-based practices that improve student achievement and develop a national network to share these best practices.