On the recordMay 4, 2010
I come to the floor to congratulate the students, faculty, staff, and parents at Kalamazoo Central High School in Kalamazoo, MI, who learned today that President Obama will deliver the commencement address for their high school next month. It is a tremendous honor to host a President, particularly this President. I am proud not only that Kalamazoo Central High has been accorded this honor but how the school earned it. More than 1,000 schools submitted applications for a competition called Race to the Top Commencement Challenge. This competition encouraged academic excellence and innovation. Evaluators narrowed the contestants down to six who were finalists. Public voting selected the final three, and the White House then announced today that the President had chosen Kalamazoo Central from those three finalists. I am not going to make any claim that I am unbiased here, but I believe it is meaningful that this Michigan school represents what is possible for a large, urban public school, open to all students. Kalamazoo, similar to many communities in my State, is not without its challenges. The tough economic times have given public educators an extremely difficult task. Kalamazoo has had to cope with the effects of plant closings, corporate mergers, and downsizings that meant administrators have had to do more with less. But the people of Kalamazoo have not allowed those challenges to stand in the way of excellence.
