White House Summit on Inner City Children and Faith Based Schools
The White House Summit on Inner City Children and Faith Based Schools was a very exciting and encouraging event. Five panels presented on various aspects of the urban education.
The highlight of the event was the address by President George W. Bush emphasizing his commitment and the commitment of his administration to addressing the problems confronting inner city faith-based schools. The President reiterated his pledge to establish a Pell Grant that would provide 300 million dollars in tuition assistance to low-income children to attend non-public schools including faith-based ones.
Education Secretary Spellings and Acting Secretary of Housing and Urban Development also presented on one of the panels.
I presented on the importance of faith-based education for urban, under-resourced, and minority children and the impact the school closings are having. I was introduced by Jay Hein, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Faith Based Initiatives.
Vernard T. Gant
Dr. Gant's Full Speech
Urban Update Summit Report
Urban School Services Department delegation met with Jack Klenk, Director of the Office of Non Public Education at the Department of Education