Letter to the Editor submitted by Michael Wotorson, director of the Campaign for High School Equity.

Willard Sakiestewa Gilbert, Hopi, is the board president of the National Indian Education Association. NIEA is a member of the Campaign for High School Equity, a civil rights coalition that strives for education policy that prepares all students to be successful in work and life.

"It is critical to the success of all students that federal, state and local education policies account for culturally based teaching programs and provide teachers with tools and resources to effectively incorporate culture into the classroom," said Michael Wotorson, director of the Campaign for High School Equity.

LULAC, a founding member of the Campaign for High School Equity, a diverse coalition of civil rights organizations committed education equality, is pressing for visible reform in the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act slated to pass sometime next year.

Editorial contributing writer: by Michael T.S. Wotorson, director of the Campaign for High School Equity, a Washington, D.C.-based coalition of national civil rights organizations representing communities of color.

By Michael Wotorson, Director, Campaign for High School Equity...Across the board, the numbers clearly show that America's schools are in crisis. Every year approximately 1.2 million American students drop out of high school.... Of the students who do graduate from high school, approximately half are not ready for college; many are unable to perform reading and mathematics with even basic proficiency. And of the students who drop out, a disproportionate percentage are minority and low income.

...the planned move to a uniform definition of graduation rates is an important step in fixing the mistakes of the early days of implementing the 6-year-old NCLB law, said Michael T.S. Wotorson, the director of the Campaign for High School Equity.

"The problem with tracking educational progress has been caused by the wide variety of how states report information," says Michael Wotorson, director of the Campaign for High School Equity. "You might look at Nebraska, Mississippi, and Georgia and they each may report a certain graduation rate but using different approaches and different calculation rates."

"Making education decisions that affect all students without the benefit of fully disaggregated data ignores the unique needs of students of color," said Michael Wotorson, director of the Campaign for High School Equity.

Audio: The Campaign for High School Equity is made up of education and civil rights activists who are trying to improve the nation's high schools. Its members are urging Congress to hold public school systems accountable for making sure most students graduate. Commentator Michael Wortorson is director of community partnerships for the Alliance for Excellent Education....