Business/Education Partnership Forum Newsletter

March 2009 - v4n3

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Note from the editor
• Top articles, commentaries, and announcements from February 2009
• New resources
• Upcoming events

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

I posed a question in the feature article of this month’s K-12 Partnership Report newsletter: with all the budget-cutting going on, should partnership investments be reduced as well – or is this exactly the wrong move?

Without getting into all the data and stats here, it’s clear to me that we’re not experiencing a typical business cycle, but rather a fundamental change in our economy. The current recession, as deep and painful as it has already proven to be, is merely a jump-start on a longer-term trend of reduced government revenues and increased expenses driven in large part by the aging of the Baby Boom generation. And that’s going to mean a lot less money available for K-12 education for the next several decades.

If that’s right – if schools can expect significantly lower funding for the foreseeable future – then I would argue that this is the wrong time to be cutting investments in community partnerships, and in fact that this is the one area in which we should be ramping up dramatically.

Depending on their structure, community/school partnerships can result in direct financial support, identification of operational efficiencies, improvements in academic, social, and postsecondary (career and college) outcomes, reductions in costs through shared or donated goods and services, lobbying and communications support, and more. All of these benefits can add real value to the educational system while compensating for reduced government inflows.

It’s an argument that needs to be made, and some, like the Association of School Business Officers, are already starting to make it (see here). But the conventional thinking to date has focused on battening down the hatches with across-the-board cuts and waiting for good times to come back – and as a result, we’re cutting partnership capacity at exactly the time we need it most.

I’m exploring a few opportunities to raise awareness of this issue, but if anyone has thoughts on getting this conversation started I’d love to hear them. As always, you can reach me at 704-940-3201 or brett@dehavillandassociates.com.

Best,

Brett

TOP ARTICLES, COMMENTARIES, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM FEBRUARY 2009

Selected to highlight business thinking on education or innovative approaches to engagement

• College program reaches out to high school students - Los Angeles Times (February 2, 2009)
• Universities are not guilty of deluding students and employers - Guardian ( UK) (February 5, 2009)
• Advocating STEM Education As a Gateway To Economic Opportunity - EdNews.org (February 8, 2009)
• Raytheon to Launch 'The Sum of All Thrills' at Epcot in 2009 - Raytheon press release (February 9, 2009)
• Crews Lake Middle School club exposes kids to future of animation - St. Petersburg Times (February 9, 2009)
• Career Skills Said to Get Short Shrift - Education Week (February 10, 2009)
• River Ridge High School students breed sea horses - St. Petersburg Times (February 11, 2009)
• The General Electric Foundation Provides Funding to Education Commission of the States with Focus on Education Research - ECS press release (February 12, 2009)
• For young Ohio engineering team, the future is green - USA Today (February 18, 2009)
• Siemens Sponsors Northeast Florida Education Consortium Visit to Austin Texas School District's Engineering Career Academy - Siemens press release (February 20, 2009)
• Inspiring Girls To Engineer America's Future - NPR (February 20, 2009)
• Cleveland Clinic, Urban League program offers youths hands-on introduction to nursing - Cleveland Plains-Dealer (Feburary 22, 2009)
• Apprentices target 'to be missed' - BBC (February 23, 2009)
• From Educators, Caution on Parent Fund-Raisers and Foundations - New York Times (February 25, 2009)
• A Report's Forgotten Message: Mobilize - Education Week (February 25, 2009)
• William backs youth skills drive - BBC (February 26, 2009)
• Educating 'Middle-Skill' Workers - Inside Higher Ed (February 27, 2009)

NEW RESOURCES

The following resources have been highlighted on the Forum recently

• Impact Evaluation of the US Department of Education's Student Mentoring Program, US Department of Education (February 2009)
• The Forgotten Middle: Ensuring that All Students Are on Target for College and Career Readiness before High School, ACT (December 2008)

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Global Education 20/20: Creating Partnerships to Educate the Global Workforce of the Future, March 10, New York NY
• National School Foundation Association Annual Conference, March 26-27, Dallas TX
• Meeting the 21 st Century Education Challenge: How Business Can Promote Education, April 27-29, New Orleans LA

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