BUSINESSES, EDUCATORS TALK TO HELP OUR SCHOOLS

Much of the current debate over educational reform centers on schools' ability to produce astute and adaptable members of the future workforce. Business and industry have needs that must be met for their viability. Are our educational institutions turning out individuals who can be contributors to the economy in years to come? To their credit, neither side of this issue is ignoring the needs of the other; business and educational leaders are meeting at a variety of levels to weigh their value to one another. This is as healthy as it is overdue.

One such meeting was held in Jackson last week and brought together members of the State Board of Education and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with local business leaders. Resulting from this gathering was, if nothing else, a better understanding and communication between two concerns that have many mutual interests and a lot of ways to help one another.

Among the desires voiced by the business leaders in attendance: calls for the teaching of stronger communication skills, for the exercise of more discipline and for the instilling of "common sense." What this speaks to, most concisely, is an appeal for basic, well-rounded education, the Three Rs. Most employers concede that, due to marketplace volatility, changing technology and the increasingly global nature of commerce, the workplace of the future will have demands quite different than the workplace today. Business owners may be satisfied to have educators "teach students how to learn," how to prepare themselves for adapting basic skills to fill future employment needs.

For their part, the business interests also have a role to play in making schools better. This is done by taking part in Adopt-a-School programs that provide educational insights not inherent in a typical school day. It is also done by having businesses that depend on teen labor understand the demands of school on their young workers; limiting their work weeks and scheduling them for early evening hours are steps in the right direction.

In addition, continued dialogue between business entities and educators is essential. It was done on one level at the Jackson meeting. At the national level, persons from a wide array of agencies joined with the U.S. secretary of labor to form the Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, which has tried to formulate "a foundation of skills and personal qualities all students should have upon leaving high school." On the local level, the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce has an education committee that can speak to these issues. In the current drive for passage of Proposition B, a statewide education tax-and-reform package, many of Missouri's leading business executive are taking active roles.

Businesses need a reliable, pliant and educated workforce. Schools can provide it. It is heartening to see these entities working together.