Rosa Smith, former superintendent of the Columbus, Ohio, schools, had an epiphany one morning when she read some statistics about U.S. prison population. Some 75% of the prison population, she found, is Latino or African-American, and 80% are functionally illiterate. She felt a new sense of purpose: Her work was no longer about teaching math or science, but about saving lives!

This is the attitude we must adopt if we are to save our children in urban schools, and schools in predominantly Black communities all over this country. There is a call to arms that we must all embrace. Failure is not an option!

When we look around us, we see widespread evidence of an education crisis in urban communities. In a study released in 2006 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the study estimates that . . . just 52% of blacks graduate, and 57% of Hispanics. Fourteen urban school districts have on-time graduation rates lower than 50%; they include Detroit, Baltimore, New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Denver and Houston.

If we are to save our children, we must embrace an education imperative that refuses to allow our children to face a new world that they are unprepared for. There are many programs that are being initiated to stem this tide. In Columbus, Ohio, Gene Harris, the current superintendent, is committed to raising the graduation rate from 72% today to 90% for the class of 2012. Her plan, Project Mentor, calls for 10,000 volunteers to mentor