As a part of the U.S. Department of Education’s third annual back-to-school bus tour, on Wednesday, Sept. 12, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will visit Sacramento, Calif., where he will meet with educators and elected officials for a discussion on school reform. This engagement is one in a series of events and community conversations to be held coast-to-coast where Secretary Duncan and other senior leaders from the Department will reinforce the message that Education Drives America.

The bus tour will begin in California’s Silicon Valley on Sept. 12 and conclude on the evening of Friday, Sept. 21, at the Department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. Additional stops include: Las Vegas, Reno, and Elko, Nevada; Salt Lake City; Rawlins, Rock Springs, and Cheyenne, Wyo.; Denver, Colorado Springs, and Limon, Colo.; Topeka and Emporia, Kan.; Columbia, St. Louis, and Kansas City, Mo.; Mt. Vernon, Ill.; Evansville, Ind.; Lexington, Ky.; Charleston and McDowell County, W.Va.; and Roanoke and Richmond, Va.

“America’s future is directly linked to the quality of education that we provide our children, young people and adults,” Secretary Duncan said. “It is the key to a vibrant middle class, strong national security and our global economic competitiveness. This bus tour is an opportunity to highlight what’s working and create momentum for education reforms that improve the lives of all students.”

Secretary Duncan will spend his time in Sacramento holding a stakeholder town hall with 30 superintendents and 30 mayors at the Sacramento Public Library to discuss district-level school reforms.

More specific details about the bus tour stop in Sacramento, Calif., will become available as the time for the event draws closer. For live, up-to-the-minute updates from the road, follow the Education Drives America tour on Twitter using the hashtag, #edtour12, or visit the Department’s bus tour blog. To receive media advisories, press releases, notifications about postings to the blog, and other special updates during the tour, subscribe to the Department’s Education Drives America e-mail updates by clicking here.