RE: Question 3: Partnerships with business

Partnerships between business and education are important and positive.  First, public education is a part of the community and many times serves as a center for the community to gather.  By building partnerships between business and education we create the opportunity to work collectively as a community to provide a quality education for our youth.  It is critical that we change some of our methods by which we provide education to our students to prepare them for an ever more complex world.  We must prepare students with the work ethics, the academic ability, and the technological skills needed to be focused and adaptable in a rapidly changing workforce.  Education works best and is most useful for future careers when students apply what they learn to real life, real work situations.  Students must be prepared with the skills they need to perform the jobs of a modern, competitive world economy.  Partnerships between business and education  help to respond to this need.


It is critical to appreciate that not all students are graduating from high school and going to college.  We must offer a range of opportunities for students in order that they have the skills to be productive and competitive in the labor market.  Even for students that are going on to higher education, the goal is for them to also enter the labor market at some point.  It is also critical that they have the opportunity to explore different fields and options for careers.  I recently had a conversation with a parent, who related to me that her son had completed graduate school at a very prestigious university.  As parents they had supported his education and spent over $84,000 in college tuition and related expenses.  Now her son had come to the realization that he did not "like" the field he had pursued, and was currently working in a low paying job unrelated to his field of expertise.  If this young man had been given or taken the opportunity to intern in his selected field, much earlier in his educational experience, perhaps he would not have completed a graduate degree in a field that he now finds unacceptable.  

In order to build partnerships between education and business, communication must be fostered.  There must also be a realization that partnerships do not mean that education only asks for money or resources from the business community.  Partnerships mean that both entities come forward with things to contribute.  Challenges for businesses in the building of partnerships include that business can be totally overwhelmed with the needs and the number of schools approaching them.  There needs to be coordination within the education community so that not every school individually or separately seeks to build a partnership with the local business.  Schools also need to ensure that appropriate recognition is provided to the businesses that participate in partnerships. 

The challenges for education are often in how the effort is packaged with teachers and other educators.  If this is seen as one more program or requirement, it may face resistance.  However, if it can be presented from a perspective of making the curriculum come alive, becoming more relevant for students, and building in a connection for the curriculum with the world of work, it can motivate and actually create an excitement among staff and students alike.  One other area of challenge is worthy of mention for the educational community.  The focus on core academic areas and the production of high API scores, can lead some educators to the conclusion that career awareness and applied academics are not important because they are not specifically measured.  However, again it is important as to how this concept is presented.  Building the connection between a standards-based curriculum and the world of work can actually generate higher student performance.  It can also build a community of support, as businesses come to appreciate the value of public education.