[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 37 (Thursday, February 24, 1994)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 9061-9063]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-4472]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: February 24, 1994]


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Part V





The President





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Executive Order 12900--
Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans


                        Presidential Documents 


Federal Register
Vol. 59, No. 37
Thursday, February 24, 1994

____________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President
                Executive Order 12900 of 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 Americans 
                (Commission). The Commission 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; and (d) ways to expand and 
                complement Federal education initiatives. The 
                Commission 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 Director, 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 by law and regulations, each 
                Federal agency shall cooperate in providing resources, 
                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 
                extent 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 be 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 Commission 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 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 
                Hispanic American participation in Federal education 
                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 year, 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 the Secretary and the 
                Secretary of Labor, to the extent permitted 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 with the Federal Advisory 
                Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App. 2). 
                Notwithstanding any other Executive order, the 
                responsibilities of the President under the Federal 
                Advisory Committee Act, as amended, shall be performed 
                by the Secretary, in accordance with the guidelines and 
                procedures 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.

                    (Presidential Sig.)>


                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    February 22, 1994.

[FR Doc. 94-4472
Filed 2-23-94; 11:35 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P

                Editorial note: For the President's remarks on signing 
                this Executive order, see the Weekly Compilation of 
                Presidential Documents (vol. 30, no. 8).