(Washington, D.C.)  Congresswoman Cathy McMorris (WA-05) announced today that the U.S. Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, accepted her invitation to visit Spokane on Thursday, February 23. Secretary Spellings will be visiting a school and host a roundtable with educators, parents and local business leaders on the importance of math and science in our education system.

“I am pleased that Secretary Spellings agreed to come to Eastern Washington and will have the opportunity to talk directly to our educators on how we can better prepare our students to be competitive in our global economy,” said McMorris. “Our country lags far behind in the number of students who are pursuing college degrees in math and science related fields. Elementary and secondary education is the time when we need to support and encourage our student’s math and science interest.”

Specific locations and times for the Secretary’s visit have yet to be determined.