PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND BUSINESSES: WHAT IS THE VALUE OF EDUCATION?
By Chris Bazuaye

Louis Gerstner, the super turnaround chairman of IBM, said it best, "Public schools are measured by what society spends on them, not by what they give back. Until society measures the Value of Education, it is impossible to make informed judgements about how much we should spend on education." Better yet, until we reinvent the environment in which public school systems have to exist, we can't expect much in terms of result or reform.

Public schools suffer from the same issues as most public organizations. They are expected to produce the results of private enterprises (efficiency, performance, etc.) without the variables of the latter, namely incentives, purpose expertise and a competitive environment.

The financial crisis in our public schools is well documented. For example, one school system brings in approximately $20 million per month, but spends $21.4 million per month. The imbalance between revenue and expenses creates an obvious problem. The public has shown a willingness to support education. Citizens deserve credit for their support of public schools. A recent poll in Alabama showed almost fifty-two percent of respondents said they believe our schools need funding. And over sixty percent said they are willing to pay more in "education taxes."

As a matter of fact, the public has always funded public schools. The issue seems to be more about resource allocation. How is the revenue allocated so it yields the most value to the system?

Policy, finance and curriculum all combine to influence makeup and functionality of our public schools. Why not create an enabling environment where policy makers (government), fiscal resources (business community) and curriculum specialists (the public school administrators) can bring their expertise together for the betterment of education?

Education is one of the pillars of any community and a major element to improving our quality of life. Through education we increase workforce capacity, research and information, average income, economic dynamism and numerous social intangibles. Everyone has a stake in its outcome: public officials, the business community, educators and the public. All stakeholders must be at the table in order to deal with the education crisis. But more importantly we need an environment that will enable our public schools to keep being the engine of success and leadership development. Take an independent count of how many of our businesses and public officials are alumni of our public schools and the value becomes apparent.

In order to reinvent our educational system, we must first agree that the value of education is extremely high. Then we must create the environment in which our public schools can operate on an elevated level. More critically, let's bring all available resources to support our public schools and our communities. Businesses need public schools, and public schools can't get better without the help of businesses.

*What do you think? Feedback here.*

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