I’ve always viewed education as a moral imperative, and devoted my 20s (and early 30s) to promoting equity in education. I approached this work with passion and probably a bit of self-righteousness; and I suspect many folks outside of the education field with whom I’ve come in contact would categorize my work as that of a “do-gooder” of sorts, and give me a good pat on the back (with maybe just a hint of benign patronization).

However, the Alliance for Excellent Education has released a report detailing the inseparable link between equity in education and the future of the American economy, an argument that in today’s economy just can’t be ignored — and perhaps the one I should have been waging all along.

The report argues that to equitably provide all students with a quality education is a critical factor in maintaining the United States’ national economic strength and that failing to close gaps in educational achievement in light of the nation’s changing demographics will have dire consequences for the American economy.

Half a century after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling, we are still faced with drastic discrepancies in the number of students of color who are graduating college — and as Jim Applegate of Lumina Foundation has posed, we need to ask ourselves why we are so comfortable with the numbers of students of color who are not going to school — let alone graduating. We need to have “courageous” conversations about why, in the U.S., African Americans and Hispanics are the fastest growing demographic, yet have the lowest college attainment and college attendance rates.