EDUCATION OFFICALS BEGIN BUSINESS LEADER MEETINGS

JACKSON -- Starting this week, state education officials have begun holding a series of 26 meetings with local business leaders throughout the state.

One of the meetings is scheduled Oct. 11 in Jackson. Others are planned in Sikeston and Flat River, both on Oct. 10.

Organized by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the State Board of Education, the series of "Education-Business Roundtables" is designed to provide a forum for business leaders to express views about public education and school-business relationships.

Members of the State Board of Education and Commissioner of Education Robert E. Bartman will lead discussions at each meeting. Selected business leaders and education officials have been invited.

A grant from The Danforth Foundation in St. Louis covers the cost of the sessions, Bartman said.

The roundtables are being held in conjunction with 10 regional educational conferences that the Department of Education will conduct across the state next month.

Bartman said: "On the national scene, business leaders are becoming more actively involved in the debate over education policy and school-reform efforts. We want to encourage business leaders to get involved in Missouri.

"The State Board of Education has identified key goals and policy issues that we want to concentrate on during the 1990s as we work to improve our public school system. We can't achieve these goals by ourselves, though; we need private-sector leaders to be well-informed about the critical issues facing our schools in the years ahead."

In Jackson, the meeting is scheduled from noon to 2 p.m. at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce office.

In Sikeston, the meeting is scheduled from noon to 2 p.m. at Savings of America, and in Flat River the meeting is planned from 8-10 a.m. at Rosener's Restaurant.