Who We Are
The Campaign for High School Equity is a diverse coalition of national organizations representing communities of color that believe high schools should have the capacity and motivation to prepare every student for graduation, college, work, and life. The Campaign for High School Equity represents Americans of all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, united under the mission of raising every U.S. high school to the high level of excellence that all of the country’s youth deserve and upon which the nation’s future depends.

Members of the Campaign include the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, the National Council of La Raza, the National Indian Education Association, the National Urban League, and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center. The Alliance for Excellent Education serves as the Campaign’s convener and coordinator. The diversity of the group is a testament to the fact that quality education is a concern for Americans from all walks of life.

Why We Are Concerned
There is a crisis in our nation’s high schools. The crisis is characterized by a growing number of schools that have inadequate human and material resources, large differentials in student achievement, and unacceptable numbers of dropouts. Unfortunately, these problems disproportionately affect students of color.

• In the 2006–07 school year, 1.2 million students failed to graduate with their class; a majority of these nongraduates were racial and ethnic minorities (EPE Research Center 2007).
• In the 2003–04 school year, only 53.4 percent of black students, 49.3 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native students, and 57.8 percent of Hispanic students graduated on time (EPE Research Center 2007).
• In the 2003–04 school year, only 46.2 percent of black boys, 44.6 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native boys, and 52.3 percent of Hispanic boys graduated on time (EPE Research Center 2007).
• Graduation rates for Asian Pacific American (APA) students are unaccounted for and their needs often overlooked because existing data is not disaggregated to illustrate the dire circumstances of many students from various APA communities.
• The nation’s minority students are four times more likely to attend a high school with very low graduation rates (60 percent or lower) than the nation’s nonminority students (Balfanz and Legters 2004).
• In thirty-one of forty-nine states studied, school districts with the highest minority enrollments received fewer resources than districts with the lowest number of minorities enrolled (Carey 2004).
• In schools where at least 75 percent of the students were low-income, there were three times as many uncertified or out-of-field teachers teaching English and science than there were in wealthier schools (Wirt et al. 2004).
• Students of color represent a significant portion of the more than 2 million English language learners (ELL) in public schools who are often subjected to inadequate or inaccessible services (NCES 2004).

Numerous studies have shown that students of color who fail to graduate from high school are more likely to be unemployed, on public assistance programs, incarcerated, and in poor health, and more likely to die at younger ages. This unacceptable state of affairs has deeply negative social and economic consequences for families, communities, and the nation.

The Goals of the Campaign
The Campaign for High School Equity was formed on the behalf of the millions of students who are inadequately served by our nation’s high schools. The Campaign’s mission is to ensure that high schools prepare every student for graduation, college, work, and life. The Campaign for High School Equity seeks to:

• provide a unique and important perspective on federal and national education policy issues critical to high school reform;
• educate diverse communities about the need and options for serious reforms in high school education; and
• engage in strategic advocacy activities that mobilize constituencies to push for changes that produce positive outcomes for students of color and low-income students.

To achieve these goals, members of the Campaign for High School Equity will work in partnership to host joint events, copublish relevant research and policy analysis, and take collective action on issues vital to ensuring high school success. Campaign members have collaborated to publish A Plan for Success: Communities of Color Define Policy Priorities for High School Reform, which further outlines the policy priorities of Campaign members. In addition to participating in nationally focused activities, Campaign member organizations will engage their established constituencies at the state and local levels to spread the coalition’s message and build widespread public will for high school reform. Together the members of the coalition intend to ensure that the needs of students of color are addressed through meaningful national action to improve America’s high schools.