President Obama has vowed to improve our nation’s education system, which is in a crisis. Given the public education system’s responsibility in educating over 50 million children, the severity of this crisis cannot be overstated. A broken education is not only a serious threat to our nation’s economy, but also a threat to our freedom; after all, “Education Is Freedom.” Although the problems with our public education system are vast, there are certain areas that President Obama must focus on first.

President Obama first needs to improve upon the No Child Left Behind Act, a law that has great potential in theory, but up until this point, has been failing in practice as well as funding. Today, there are more and more children who are left behind in the current educational system; a system which seems to be driven by passing standardized tests instead of teaching kids a broader range of curriculum geared towards preparing students for the workforce and college.

There is also the issue of the academic achievement gap which continues to persist. The President’s own academic success gives us a great example of what is possible in the lives of minority and disadvantaged children if this gap is eliminated. In order to address the academic achievement gap, however, both academic and neighborhood conditions must be simultaneously addressed, especially since the current economic crisis may have the potential to disproportionately impact poor neighborhoods. Creating a supportive atmosphere — both in school and at home — that promotes learning and education is what needs to be done to help close the gap.

The high school drop-out crisis is another problem the President must confront head-on. Many high schools across America are experiencing drop-out rates that are 50% or higher. President Obama has already promised funding for intervention strategies, including personal academic plans, increased instruction and learning time, and mentoring. Those promises must be carried out as well as President Obama being able to create common vision in young people that their education is important, not only to themselves, but to the overall health of the nation.

In addition to finding creative ways to address the high school drop-out crisis, President Obama must also focus on enhancing the public education system’s ability to perform a better job in adequately preparing more students for college — a process that must begin as early as middle school, given the academic deficits so many students in the public school system face. Students who arrive at high school already behind academically find it harder to catch up in time to be prepared for the academic rigors of college. Some studies suggest that over 50% of all freshmen entering college will need to take remedial courses. Appropriate remediation before students head to college is not only more effective, but also less costly to the students themselves, who need remediation, and to our nation, which often shares in the cost of paying for the remediation work once these students enter college.

Finally, a lesser-discussed problem is the nation’s inability to produce more students who are graduating in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. To stay competitive in a global economy, protect our nation’s infrastructure, as well as be in effective in our national security efforts, we must begin to significantly increase the number of students who are graduating in STEM areas.