WASHINGTON – Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer Shakira will join a dozen fellow new members of the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics for meetings at the White House and be sworn-in at an official ceremony at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center on Thursday. The Commission is tasked with expanding academic excellence and improving educational opportunities for Hispanics by providing advice toPresident Obama and EducationSecretary Arne Duncan.
 
Dr. Jill Biden, a lifelong educator and wife of Vice President Joe Biden, will give brief remarks on the importance of Hispanic success in education to America’s economy to members of the Commission at the White House before the ceremony. Members of the Commission met for the first-time at the White House in May and were sworn-in by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
 
Hispanics are the largest minority group in the public education system with more than 1 in 5 students in the nation’s elementary, middle and high schools, but have the lowest education attainment level overall, according to a report by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.Shakira has worked on a number of efforts to expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education around the world.
 
The Commissioners meeting at the White House will begin streaming live on the Internet at http://www.whitehouse.gov/liveat 1:00 pm ET on Thursday and conclude at 5:30 pm ET, and will stream from 1:00 pm ET to 5:00 pm ET on Friday. Updates will also be available on Twitter through hashtag #AtTheWHI and through the White House Initiative’s handle @HispanicEd.