San Diego

The San Diego Private Industry Council, a group seeking to work out a “compact” between business, labor and the city schools, received a planning grant Friday from the National Alliance of Business.

The council was one of seven groups around the country to receive $10,000 for planning, as well as additional monies for workshops in Boston, where the first community-schools alliance (the Boston Compact) is ongoing. The San Diego compact would aim to improve educational performance and guarantee jobs.

Under the two-year-old Boston plan, business, social agencies and public organizations have made job and grade agreements with the school district, particularly for students thought to be “at risk”--those that might drop out of school or develop insufficient skills to hold jobs without better academic training. The San Diego plan, if worked out, would involve businesses promising jobs for students from city schools if the school system can show improvements in raising test scores and lowering dropout rates.

A conceptual plan has been drawn up by the school system, Chamber of Commerce, the Navy and San Diego State University. A final proposal should be ready by late summer for presentation to businesses and other groups, which would be asked to commit themselves to the goals.