American Education Week, 2010

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 8602 of November 16, 2010

American Education Week, 2010

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Education is essential to our success as both a people
and a Nation. During American Education Week, we
rededicate ourselves to providing a complete and
competitive education for every student, from cradle
through career.

In an increasingly interconnected world, our leadership
and prosperity depend on the standard and quality of
education that we establish for our students. In order
to maintain our Nation's role as the world's engine of
discovery and innovation, my Administration is
committed to ensuring that America has the best-
educated citizenry in the world.

To foster the next generation of great American
leaders, we must continue to invest in education at all
levels, work with States and districts to improve our
educational system, and encourage reforms that ensure
the development of our students and teachers. We have
also set a goal of once again having the highest
proportion of college graduates of any country across
the globe by the year 2020.

Educators and school employees must also strive to
provide our students with the tools needed to access a
fulfilling and prosperous future. Students are able to
reach for their dreams when teachers, parents, and
communities support their efforts and insist upon
excellence.

Education has always been central to ensuring
opportunity, and to instilling in all our citizens the
defining American values of freedom, equality, and
respect for one another. Our Nation's schools can give
students the tools, skills, and knowledge to
participate fully in our democracy, and to succeed in
college, career, and life. This week, let us reaffirm
the importance of education and recognize that we all
share in the responsibility to educate our students.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim November 14 through
November 20, 2010, as American Education Week. I call
upon all Americans to observe this week by supporting
their local schools through appropriate activities,
events, and programs designed to help create
opportunities for every school and student in America.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
sixteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two
thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.