Cooperate to Point Our Learning Curve Upward : Education: If our public system is going to respond to America’s needs, educators and executives must get together and find common ground.

America is facing a severe labor shortage throughout the 1990s. Our population is increasing at a rate slower than in any era since the Great Depression. We’re also getting older.

While we will have fewer workers to draw on, we will be making more demands on them. They’ll have to exercise more creativity and initiative than ever before. And they’ll have to learn to work harder and smarter.

This scenario suggests that corporate chief executive officers and school superintendents should rethink the way we prepare ourselves and our people for the future.

When it comes to improving the quality of America’s public school system, executives and educators face many of the same issues and have many of the same goals. Yet even though we both have an enormous stake in the success of our schools, we still approach education reform from different directions and envision solutions largely from our own perspectives.

That observation was reinforced by the results of surveys of executives and school administrators that my company conducted in the past year.

Educators told us that the public education system is doing a pretty good job. They graded it a B-minus. Executives said the performance is only fair and marked it a C-minus.

In terms of past and future trends, about 75% of the educators said our public schools are better today than they were 10 years ago. About the same percentage expected the schools to improve throughout the ‘90s.

Yet almost two-thirds of the executives said that public education became worse during the ‘80s. Less than half predicted any real improvement by the end of this decade.

Educators and executives did agree on what’s causing the problem--factors such as lack of parental involvement and poorly motivated students. But there were significant differences, too. Educators, for instance, were more than twice as likely to place part of the blame on budget cuts. Executives, twice as often as did educators, cited inadequately trained teachers, low academic standards and lack of emphasis on basic skills.

When asked about turning our schools around, both agreed on several key points--getting parents more involved, making teachers more accountable and doing a better job of motivating students.

However, the executives were more likely than educators to propose bigger salaries and smaller classes for teachers. Executives were three times more supportive of parents’ right to choose their children’s schools.

When asked what companies should do to help schools, educators suggested supporting tax increases and contributing materials and equipment.

Executives said they also favored those kinds of support activities. But they were likely to mention donations of money, manpower--in the form of employee lectures and tutors--and giving part-time jobs to students.

Only about 25% of the executives and educators said that companies were having a real impact on the schools in their area. More than half said they haven’t made a difference at all.

If that’s true, it probably reflects the fact that business and education have focused on joint efforts for only a relatively short time. It may also mean that executives and educators often still see the world in different ways. And it’s hampering our efforts to get America’s learning curve pointed in the right direction.

To fix this problem, it seems to me that we need to rub out the line between us, draw a big circle and invite everyone in. The best way to do all that is to tackle the issue where it matters most--at the local level, where we can be most productive.

When people of good will come together, powerful things happen. Talk to those already involved in business/education partnerships and you’ll find that parents, teachers, executives, administrators, government officials and civic leaders quickly see that each has substance to offer the others.

With a partnership, it’s possible to create a common agenda and a shared vision that brings success. The revolution begins with one school, one district, one town at a time. Everyone plays a part.

There also is a need to support this kind of consensus at the state and national level.

I’m proposing a kind of continuing education program for educators, executives and everyone else interested in our schools. With an ongoing dialogue, we can share insights and suggestions, learn more about each other’s proposals, clear the air and take a fresh look at our options.

Let’s agree to do what’s necessary today so that a generation from now, history can say we gave the children of America the education they deserved.