(Lincoln, NE) Gov. Dave Heineman announced today that he will travel to the nation’s capital tomorrow, Friday, February 25, through Tuesday, March 1, to take part in the 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools, which will take place in conjunction with the National Governors Association (NGA) winter meeting.
Gov. Heineman said, “Education is a top priority of my administration so I am eager to join with fellow governors in examining our high school education system. I am very proud of the quality of public education in Nebraska, but I believe we have an obligation to continually assess whether our system is meeting 21st Century education needs. This is a terrific opportunity to share new ideas with policy-makers and education experts from across the country in hopes we can make a good system even better.”
The governor has invited Senator Ron Raikes, chair of the Legislature’s Education Committee, to join him as a participant in the summit.
The summit will bring together governors from across the country along with top business executives and prominent K-12 and higher education leaders to examine whether students are well-prepared to meet the demands of today’s economy.
Previous summits—held in 1989, 1996, 1999 and 2001—were instrumental in creating political momentum and public support for raising academic standards and performance in the nation’s schools. This year, participants will address such core issues as strengthening requirements for rigorous coursework, bringing colleges and universities together with K-12 education to set common expectations, improving teaching and principal leadership, and expanding options and support for students to achieve high standards.
The 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools is sponsored by NGA and Achieve, Inc. in partnership with the Business Roundtable, the James B. Hunt Institute and the Education Commission of the States. It will be held at the JW Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.
