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NAACP Call for Action goal is to reduce education disparities by 50% over a five-year period. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Education Department is requesting states to submit Educational Equity Partnership Plans that outline the states’ efforts to reduce education-related racial disparities by 50% over the next five years (2005-2009). Each state is asked to submit its plan by June 24, 2005. Dr. John Jackson, NAACP National Director of Education, said, “The NAACP Call for Action initiative is an effort to partner with states to reduce the racial disparities in education and assist states in meeting the benchmark in the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The federal government has to play more of an active role assisting states in resources and policy to address these disparities. However, until the federal government decides to do what is right, the NAACP has a moral obligation to fight to ensure that all students have access to a high quality education.” Over the past three years, the Call for Action initiative has gained tremendous momentum. Between 2001 and 2004, forty-eight states agreed to participate in the process of addressing their state’s racial disparities in education. Only two states, Nevada and Colorado, chose not to respond to the request to partner with the NAACP in this effort. NAACP state and local education chairs have annually participated in trainings to work with states to address these disparities. Participating organizations include: the Education Trust, National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the Harvard Civil Rights Project. [more]