Lessons for a Biz Community Ready to Step Up
by Frederick M. Hess • Jun 8, 2011 at 8:08 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
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ShareFor several years now, I've worked with my friends at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC) to provide the training and support that can help state and local business leaders become more effective partners in promoting educational improvement. I've frequently given a speech to the USCC's LEADs seminar for local and state business leaders titled "Has Business Been Bold Enough?" The answer has been straightforward: Nope.
Today my colleague Whitney Downs and I release a new USCC report that seeks to provide a roadmap for those business and civic leaders tired of genteel gestures, aimless initiatives, and sitting on their hands. In "Partnership Is a Two-Way Street: What It Takes for Business to Help Drive School Reform" we argue, "Too often, business has put its good intentions to work in the service of ineffectual systems...If business leaders are serious about school improvement, they must play a more forceful role and drive harder bargains with state officials and school district educators." To see how business can do better, Whitney and I closely examined
