Presidential Executive Order 12900
The White House
February 22, 1994
Educational Excellence for Hispanic
Americans
By the authority vested in me as President
by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and
in order to advance the development of human potential, to strengthen
the Nation's capacity to provide high-quality education, and to
increase opportunities for Hispanic Americans to participate in and
benefit from Federal education programs, it is hereby ordered as
follows:
Section 1. There shall be
established in the Department of Education the President's Advisory
Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic American
(Commission). The Commissions shall consist of not more than 25
members, who shall be appointed by the President and shall report to
the Secretary of Education (Secretary). The Commission shall comprise
representatives who: (a) have a history of involvement with the
Hispanic community; (b) are from the education, civil rights, and
business communities; or (c) are from civic associations representing
the diversity within the Hispanic community. In addition, the
President may appoint other representatives as he deems
appropriate.
Sec. 2. The Commission shall
provide advice to the President and the Secretary on: (a) the progress
of Hispanic Americans toward achievement of the National Education
Goals and other standards of educational accomplishment; (b) the
development, monitoring, and coordination of Federal efforts to
promote high-quality education for Hispanic Americans; (c) ways to
increase State, private sector, and community involvement in improving
education's and (d) ways to expand and complement Federal education
initiatives. The Commissions shall provide advice to the President
through the Secretary.
Sec. 3. There shall be
established in the Department of Education the White House Initiative
on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans (Initiative). The
Initiative shall be an interagency working group coordinated by the
Department of Education and shall be headed by a Direcotr, who shall
be a senior level Federal official. It shall provide the staff,
resources, and assistance for the Commission and shall serve the
Secretary in carrying out his or her responsibilities under this
order. The Initiative is authorized to utilize the services,
personnel, information, and facilities of other Federal, State, and
local agencies with their consent, and with or without reimbursement,
consistent with applicable law. To the extent permitted b law and
regulations, each Federal agency shall cooperate in providing
including personnel detailed to the Initiative, to meet the objectives
of this order. The Initiative shall include both career civil service
and appointed staff with expertise in the area of education, and shall
provide advice to the Secretary on the implementation and coordination
of education and related programs across Executive
agencies.
Sec. 4. Each Executive
department and each agency designated by the Secretary shall appoint a
senior official, who is a full-time officer of the Federal Government
and responsible for management or program administration, to report
directly to the agency head on activity under this Executive order and
to serve as liaison to the Commission and the Initiative. To the
extend permitted by law and to the extent practicable, each Executive
department and designated agency shall provide any appropriate
information requested by the Commission or the staff of the
Initiative, including data relating to the eligibility for and
participation by Hispanic Americans in Federal education programs and
the progress of Hispanic Americans in relation to the National
Education Goals. Where adequate data is not available, the Commission
shall suggest the means of collecting the data.
Sec. 5. The Secretary, in
consultation with the Commission, shall: submit to the President an
Annual Federal Plan to Promote Hispanic American Educational
Excellence (Annual Federal Plan, or Plan). All actions described in
the Plan shall designed to help Hispanic Americans attain the
educational improvement targets set forth in the National Education
Goals and any standards established by the National Education
Standards and Improvement Council. The Plan shall include data on
eligibility for, and participation by, Hispanic Americans in Federal
education programs, and such other aspects of the educational status
of Hispanic Americans as the Secretary considers appropriate. This
Plan also shall include, as an appendix, the text of the agency plans
described in section 6 of this order. The Secretary, in consultation
with the Commissions and with the assistance of the Initiative staff,
shall ensure that superintendents of Hispanic-serving school
districts, presidents of Hispanic-serving institutions of higher
education, directors of educational programs for Hispanic Americans,
and other appropriate individuals are given the opportunity to comment
on the proposed Annual Federal Plan. For purposes of this order, a
"Hispanic-serving" school district or institution of higher education
is any local education agency or institution of higher education,
respectively, whose student population is more than 25 percent
Hispanic.
Sec. 6. As part of the
development of the Annual Federal Plan, each Executive department and
each designated agency (hereinafter in this section referred to
collectively as "agency") shall prepare a plan for, and shall
document, both that agency's effort to increase Hispanic American
participation in Federal education programs where Hispanic Americans
currently are underserved, and that the agency's effort to improve
educational outcomes for Hispanic Americans participating in Federal
education programs. This plan shall address, among other relevant
issues: (a) the elimination of unintended regulatory barriers to
Hispanics American participation's in Federal programs; (b) the
adequacy of announcements of program opportunities of interest to
Hispanic-serving school districts, institutions of higher education,
and agencies; and (c) ways of eliminating educational inequalities and
disadvantages faced by Hispanic Americans. It also shall emphasize the
facilitation of technical, planning, and development advice to
Hispanic-serving school districts and institutions of higher
education. Each agency's plan shall provide appropriate measurable
objectives for proposed actions aimed at increasing Hispanic American
participation in Federal education programs where Hispanic Americans
currently are underserved. After the first years, each agency's plan
also shall assess that agency's performance on the goals set in the
previous year's annual plan. These plans shall be submitted by a date
and time to be established by the Secretary.
Sec. 7. The Director of the
Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with th Secretary and
the Secretary of Labor, to the exten permitter by law, shall develop a
program to promote recruitment of Hispanic students for part-time,
summer, and permanent positions in the Federal Government.
Sec. 8. I have determined
that the Commission shall be established in compliance ith the Federal
Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5, U.S.C. App. 2).
Notwiithstanding any other Executive order, the responsibilities of
the PResident under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended,
shall be performed by the Secretar, in accordance with the guidelines
and proedures established by the Administrator of General
Services.
Sec. 9.
Administration. (a) Members of the Commission shall
serve without compensation, but shall be allowed travel expenses,
including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for
persons serving intermittently in the Government service (5 U.S.C.
5701-5707).
(b) The Commission and the
Initiative shall obtain funding for their activities from the
Department of Education.
(c)The Department of Education shall
provide such administrative services for the Commission as may be
required.
Sec. 10. Executive Order No. 12729 is
revoked.
William J. Clinton
February 22, 1994