The new Education Achievement Authority tasked with raising the standards of under performing schools in Detroit and Michigan’s met for the first time today, just a week after its board members were named to their jobs.

Roy Roberts, DPS

Meetings of the EAA’s board, and its executive committee, are being live streamed here.

The EAA is headed by Roy C. Roberts, a former General Motors executive who was appointed as Emergency Manager of the Detroit Public Schools this spring.

Today, Roberts tweeted a photo of the new board and said,

“This group represents some of the best minds this state has to offer coming together to envision a different path for schools that need support and greater autonomy. I earnestly look forward to this Board addressing the key policy questions as we begin to work to build a new system of schools for children and families.”

The EAA is part of  Gov. Rick Snyder’s push for school reform in Michigan, and the reform effort is gaining national attention.

The new board members include a cross section of educational experts and community leaders from across Detroit, Southeastern Michigan and the state.Two board members were selected by Eastern Michigan University, one of the nation’s leading schools for training teachers.

The EAA will have the authority to oversee 45 schools in Detroit next year, if their standards cannot be improved. Eventually, it could oversee 100 of the worst performing schools in the state.