In testimony before the House Committee on Education and Labor, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the main education law that provides federal assistance to the nation’s public schools, is a critical piece of the Obama administration's agenda.

The Obama administration signaled this week that it is making reauthorization and strengthening of the main federal education law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), a priority for 2010. The ESEA was last reauthorized in 2002 as No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, approximately 1.2 million students do not graduate from high school in four years, if at all. Most of these dropouts come from minority and low-income communities, further widening the opportunity gap.

High school dropouts are more likely to experience poverty, poor health, and incarceration during their adult lives than people who graduate from high school.  The dropout crisis comes at a high economic cost for both the individual and society – resulting directly in lost wages and high government expenditures. It has been estimated that the dropouts from the class of 2008 will cost the United States almost $319 billion in lost income over their lifetime.

The Alliance suggests that the role of the federal government (PDF) should focus on developing a common set of standards for American high schools by aligning assessments and creating common definitions of proficiency and graduation rates.  The ultimate goal is to increase the number of graduates and ensure that these graduates are prepared for either college or the workplace.

The Campaign for High School Equity (CHSE), a coalition of national civil rights organizations that includes the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, says that schools could help close the achievement gap and provide incentives for staying in school by addressing many health issues that disproportionately affect minority and low-income students.

Mandatory physical education, healthy lunches, and information about eating well would contribute to students' physical health and help them excel in school. Students should also have access to properly trained, culturally sensitive mental health professionals in school. School-based health centers, of which there are approximately 1700 in the United States, also provide their students with equal access to primary health care.

More than 23 percent of African-American children between the ages of 12 and 19 were obese in 2006, which is higher than the national average of obese children (17.6 percent). And according to the National Adolescent Health Information Center, African-American and Latino children experience higher rates of depression and suicide.

Children spend seven to eight hours a day in school, more time than they spend anywhere else.  And yet only 53 percent of schools teach students about healthy eating habits and just 18 percent offer fruits and vegetables.

"In the same low-income and minority neighborhoods where most low-performing schools are concentrated, we find extreme disparities in access to quality, affordable health care," said David Goldberg, senior counsel at LCCR.  "Research and common sense make it very clear that poor nutrition and health compound the problems of lower-quality education because sick kids miss more school days, and illness and poor nutrition both sap children of the ability to focus and learn while they are in school."

Public and private school enrollment has risen in New Orleans as authorities continue to repair and rebuild after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city's education infrastructure four years ago.

Flood damage initially left only 20 of 120 New Orleans public schools intact after the hurricane hit in 2005, making it impossible for many students to continue their education.  Since then, the city has been rebuilding schools in hard-hit areas. According to the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, 16 new schools opened during the 2008-2009 school year, bringing the total public and private school enrollment in the city to 78 percent of pre-Katrina levels. In addition, all higher education institutions in New Orleans are now open.

The damage to the city's schools was particularly devastating to African Americans. While more than 49 percent of New Orleans school students were African American before Katrina struck, the proportion was at 39 percent as late as the spring of 2007.  African-American enrollment increased to about 43 percent last school year.  Hispanic enrollment has also increased.