U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. will visit Los Angeles on Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 11-12, for several events focused on higher education issues including college access and opportunity, teacher preparation and preventing campus sexual assaults. Tuesday morning, King will visit Claremont McKenna College for a roundtable conversation with a small group of students to learn about the work they are doing to prevent sexual assault as part of the It's on Us campaign, which was launched by President Obama in 2014.
Later in the day on Tuesday, King and Alejandra Ceja, executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics will announce our newest ¡Gradúate! 2.0: A College Planning Guide to Success, while speaking with first generation high school and college students. The conversation will focus on the challenges faced by Hispanic students, as well as supports available to foster academic success. The guide provides the Hispanic community with information and resources to guide students and families through the process of going to college. The town hall style conversation, moderated by MiTú, will be livestreamed on the U.S. Department of Education Facebook page. A press availability will follow the conversation.
On Wednesday, Secretary King will visit the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education, where he will tour the campus and visit classrooms before participating in a roundtable discussion on teacher preparation with deans of education, teachers, teacher preparation students and principals. During the roundtable discussion, he will discuss the importance of ensuring teachers are adequately prepared for the demands of today's diverse classrooms, whether they enroll in traditional preparation programs or alternative pathway programs and innovation in teacher preparation. The event will be followed by a press availability.