Gov. Jeb Bush Applauds Support for High Education Standards at
Annual Meeting of National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

President and First Lady George H.W. Bush in Attendance

HOUSTON, Texas, April 30, 2015 – Gov. Jeb Bush, presumed 2016 presidential candidate, yesterday
addressed The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC)/CONEL annual convention
of more than 1,000 Latino Evangelical leaders in Houston, Texas. As his parents, President and First Lady
George H.W. Bush looked on, Gov. Bush spoke about the importance of faith and the Latino culture on
issues impacting America including education reform and high academic standards.
“Jeb Bush is a blessing for our nation,” Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of NHCLC/CONEL, said in
introducing him from the platform. “He speaks the language of faith, family, religious freedom and
entrepreneurship. And he agrees we don’t want our children to have multi-generational dependence on
Uncle Sam … we don’t want to survive, we want to thrive.”
Gov. Bush addressed the audience in English as well as Spanish, and specifically thanked the NHCLC for an
unwavering commitment to raising educational standards for American students. Bush commented on a shared
motivation for demanding education equity, “America should have lofty expectations for every child because
God gives every child the ability to learn.” The former Governor also shared examples of successful education
reform from his own state of Florida, which is now a national leader in education.
“You can move the needle – you can change the lives of thousands and thousands of families if you have
the courage to have school choice, robust accountability, higher standards and a focus on early childhood
literacy,” Gov. Bush said. “Don’t believe that this is an impossible task.”
“We need to raise the standards across the board,” said Dr. Carlos Campo, NHCLC/CONEL education
directive leader, president-elect at Ashland University and founder of the Faith & Education Coalition. “We
must begin a new narrative. It is now time to prepare our students effectively for life, for college and for
being an engaged citizen in this country. We must raise the standards in the classroom, in church and in
the home.”
NHCLC/CONEL education initiatives and resources are found online at www.faithandeducation.com,
alongside links to Christian university and seminary partners.
NHCLC/CONEL is the world’s largest Hispanic Christian organization. It serves as a representative voice
for the more than 100 million Hispanic Evangelicals assembled in over 40,000 U.S. churches and another
500,000 congregations spread throughout the Spanish-speaking diaspora. For additional information, visit
http://www.nhclc.org.