Like millions of Americans across the country, I woke up the day after Barack Obama was elected president with a newfound hope for our country. As an African-American woman, I also rejoiced to know that children of color in the United States no longer have a reason to rein in their dreams.

Now that President-elect Obama is preparing to take office, I urge him to tackle the most critical issue to our city's long-term future: the achievement gap that persists when only 48 percent of fourth graders in Orleans Parish public schools perform at or above proficient in reading, compared with an average of 69 percent across all Louisiana public schools.

As the local director of Teach For America, a nonprofit organization that recruits top college graduates to work in underserved schools, I support almost 350 teachers who are working with over 20,000 students in Greater New Orleans. These young people have made a commitment to educational equity and excellence for all children, and are proving that a child's ZIP code need not determine his or her academic future. Our alumni include Adam Meinig, the founder and principal of KIPP Believe, a public charter school that is one of the four highest performing open-enrollment schools in the city.