(a) Establishment
There is established in the Institute a National Center for Education Statistics (in this part referred to as the "Statistics Center").

(b) Mission
The mission of the Statistics Center shall be—

(1) to collect and analyze education information and statistics in a manner that meets the highest methodological standards;

(2) to report education information and statistics in a timely manner; and

(3) to collect, analyze, and report education information and statistics in a manner that—

(A) is objective, secular, neutral, and nonideological and is free of partisan political influence and racial, cultural, gender, or regional bias; and

(B) is relevant and useful to practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and the public.