To help achieve President Obama's stated goal of ensuring that every student has meaningful opportunities to choose from upon graduating from high school, the administration has designed a blueprint for a reenvisioned federal role in education through the reauthorization of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" ("ESEA"). This new vision considers that, while all states have developed and implemented standards as required under the current "ESEA", in many cases these standards do not reflect the knowledge and skills needed for success after high school, either in further education or a job. This paper describes how the proposed "ESEA" will help effect dramatic change in low-performing schools. [For the related report, "A Blueprint for Reform. The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act", see ED508795.]