Given the severity of the high school crisis, the national imperative to graduate all students ready for college and careers, and the current momentum to achieve significant changes in education policy, federal policy-makers should make it a priority to reauthorize Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) now. It is critically important that federal policy be updated, not only to maintain pace with the common standards initiative, but also to serve as a leader and partner in helping bring the potential of this and other efforts to fruition. The nation cannot afford to let another generation of students pass through the system, drop out, or exit unprepared for college and careers. The time to act is now. ESEA reauthorization should: (1) establish college and career readiness as the common goal for all students; (2) ensure meaningful accountability for high school outcomes designed around common indicators of college and career readiness and high school graduation; (3) replace the current flawed, one-size-fits-all school improvement process with requirements for state- and district-led systems that are differentiated and data driven, and prioritize addressing the lowest-performing high schools; (4) support strategies that are necessary to implement high school improvement at a much larger scale, including districtwide efforts, maximizing the role of entities outside of the school system with expertise to contribute; (5) build the capacity of the system to implement innovative solutions--bold approaches to teaching and learning, school organization, and system structure that result in higher expectations and achievement for all students; and (6) provide new funding for the implementation of innovative solutions to address low-performing high schools. This brief discusses these recommendations in more detail. (Contains 8 endnotes.)