Filling the leadership gap in Illinois education

Although Illinois made great strides in the 1985 education reform legislation, since then we have been "slip-slidin' away into the quicksand of politics and provincialism," according to Ted Sanders, former Illinois state superintendent of education. If Illinois is to recover its competitive edge and provide a suitable environment for growth and investment, businessmen must get their act together and demonstrate leadership in educational reforms.

By now most of us are familiar with the threatening problems of illiteracy, high dropout rates, drug use, poor work attitudes and low achievement rates — even among our top students. Whereas Illinois and U.S. students, parents and educational administrators are relatively complacent about academic achievement rates, in fact, employers are not satisfied at all and have to spend enormous amounts in basic literacy and technical training — thereby paying double what they should for highly skilled employees. The national Commission on Excellence in Education had it right when it reported in A Nation At Risk in 1983:

"More and more young people emerge from high school ready for neither college nor for work. This predicament becomes more acute as the knowledge base continues its rapid expansion, the numbers of traditional jobs shrink, and the new jobs demand greater sophistication and preparation."

Since there is little question about the need for fundamental educational reform, where do businessmen and the nonexperts start? The answers are obvious: Get involved almost anywhere, with the main goal to get informed about the scope and dimensions of the problems. A basic reading list (see below) will help save time and embarrassment. Once you get enough information to recognize that changes in direction and fundamental restructuring are essential, I think the first sign of wisdom will be the recognition that money alone will not solve our problems, but rather will only postpone the changes that are needed unless there are external pressures and initiatives.

I suggest that we are beyond fingerpointing, and that many educators and legislators are welcoming the entry of businessmen to help make changes. I further suggest that the following 10 areas are productive things you can do, and each can lead to genuine restructuring in schools:

1. Participate at first at the local level (and later at the state level) in setting long-term goals, standards and accountability; monitor progress and improved results in a whole range of areas (test results, dropout rates, attendance, job retention of graduates, staff evaluations, etc.).
2. Provide adolescents with career information and identify part-time jobs that lead to careers (co-op education, apprenticeships, after school work, summer jobs).
3. Look for "choice" at the state and local levels so that parents can pick the most suitable schools for their children.
4. Work with the media to provide more and better information to parents, teachers and students about future job requirements, skills needed, attitudes and work habits needed, job opportunities — especially for those who will not obtain a bachelor's degree, whom Dale Parnell calls the "neglected majority."
5. Work locally and statewide to support a greater investment in preschool education.
6. Focus attention on the support level for the principal in every school: The fastest and surest way to make progress is to provide enough resources to principals so that they can become more effective instructional leaders.
7. Support programs that inform and demonstrate to parents what their responsibilities and opportunities are; children are, after all, only in school a small fraction of their waking hours, and TV is not the best way to fritter away one's precious youth.
8. Take an interest in instruction, especially at the elementary grade levels: reading, writing, mathematics, science and the practical applications that can bring the real world into the classrooms. This is the most fun and most rewarding of all!
9. Visit your local vocational schools to see if students are being well prepared for jobs upon graduation. Chances are the vocational centers are not getting the resources they need nor the students who should be attending. Students can become much more highly motivated to stay in school and learn the basics if they can see a purpose of instruction. You need to demonstrate to teenagers what the real world of work is like through cooperative workstudy, apprenticeships, etc.
10. Work with your own business group and/or the Illinois Manufacturers' Association. Write to the IMA for information.

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Since January 1988, the Illinois Manufacturers' Association has taken the lead in Illinois to establish real accountability and a process to implement many of the reforms that are required at the state level. This accountability plan is in the legislative process as Conference Committee Report on House Bill 2030. Among other provisions it would establish a "Department of Public Accountability" under the Illinois Board of Education and the state school superintendent to set standards for each district, and it would also establish a Business-Education Commission to monitor progress toward accountability. That new commission will require the support and participation of private sector leaders to help guide Illinois in current and future education reforms.

The commission calls for representatives beyond the business sector. Three members from each of the following sectors would work together to find consensus: manufacturers; services and commerce; other private sector employers; associations with an interest in education; unions that represent school employees; local school boards; local school administration and parent-teacher organization.

The legislation still needs Senate approval this fall and the signature of the governor. Participate instead of bellyaching. Call your senator to vote on the conference committee bill this fall, urge the governor to sign it, and more important, take your business acumen into your schools. □

M. Blouke Carus is president and chief executive officer of Carus Corporation, Peru, Ill.

August & September 1989 | Illinois Issues | 67