With all the unique challenges facing African-Americans, identifying just one problem as our most fundamental issue sounds like the beginning of a long, nuanced conversation. It's not so complicated, however, for President Barack Obama. In a recent media roundtable with African-American reporters, he easily cited education as the most important issue for the Black community.

"If we close the achievement gap, then a big chunk of economic inequality in this society is diminished," Obama told a small group of journalists from Black media outlets, including ESSENCE, aboard Air Force One. "Now, how do we do that? Better teachers, greater accountability, and more resources combined with more reform."

According to a recent study from the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, African-American students continue to score significantly lower in reading and math than their White counterparts. Consequently, our children also have a far higher high school dropout rate and a lower rate of college enrollment.

So, what is the President doing to combat these problems? The Obama administration says there are a number of policies and proposals in their agenda  to get all children college-ready. "The President has laid out a goal to provide a complete and competitive education for every child from cradle through career," said Heather Higginbottom, Deputy Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. "That's how we look at this; we look at every piece of this pipeline, starting with early education."