Helping African-American Students

In order to improve the academic progress of African American students, President Obama signed the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans. The President hopes that the initiative will help African American students “so that every child has greater access to a complete and competitive education from the time they’re born all through the time they get a career.” Tenets of the plan include helping the students get into early childhood programs that get them ready for school studies, making sure that African American children are not placed in special education programs unless they need these programs, addressing the numbers of suspensions and expulsions of black children from their schools, and offering the children the chance to “access rigorous courses and effective teachers” so that they can be ready for the future.