MILLS COLLEGE TO HOST COMMUNITY CONVERSATION ON ACHIEVEMENT GAP IN PUBLIC EDUCATION

Listen to the Conversation on KALW Radio 

Oakland, CA–February 6, 2008. Mills College will host a community conversation on "Public Education and the Achievement Gap" on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 6:30 pm at Lisser Hall, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA. The event is free and open to the public.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, African American and Latino students' reading and mathematics skills at the end of high school are roughly the same as those of white students in 8th grade.

Can this disparity in public education be eliminated? Join policy makers, students, and teachers to discuss the causes and solutions to the achievement gap among African American and Latino students and their peers.

Led by Rose Aguilar, host of "Your Call," daily public affairs show on KALW 91.7 FM, a panel of participating Bay Area educational leaders will include:

• Russlynn Ali, founding director, The Education Trust-West
• Ronnisha Johnson, student, Philip and Sala Burton High School
• Mark Sanchez, president, San Francisco Board of Education
• Olis Simmons, executive director, Youth UpRising

The program will air on KALW 91.7 FM on Tuesday, March 18 at 7:00 pm and on KQED 88.5 FM on Thursday, March 27 at 8:00 pm. The program is sponsored by Mills College and the local public radio stations.

Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California, Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering a dynamic progressive education that fosters leadership, social responsibility, and creativity to approximately 900 undergraduate women and 500 graduate women and men. Since 2000, applications to Mills College have more than doubled. The college ranks as one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report and one of the Best 366 Colleges by the Princeton Review.

PRESS CONTACT:
Quynh Tran
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510.430.2300