Addresses the notion promoted by businesses that the American educational system is a failure. Explains that United States productivity is still the highest in the world in all areas of economic importance. Suggests that while politicians and industrial leaders criticize the educational system, their policies and actions undermine public education…

Support for American public schools is ebbing at a time when it is needed most. This booklet outlines ways in which educators can counteract the criticisms leveled at public education and communicate its successes. It examines and presents data to refute the following charges: (1) SAT scores are falling; (2) students are taking too many "dumbed…

Within the private sector, the human resource management perspective has replaced the traditional personnel management approach. A similar evolution within the educational community is necessary for implementation of successful school reforms. Presented in this paper are an overview of the transition from personnel management to human resource…

Examines the private sector's historic role in human capital investment, emphasizing its contemporary interest in public education and the workforce. Private sector philanthropy is currently an issue of survival to public education. An important private sector role is to act as a political catalyst to push through essential educational reform. (SM)

When President Reagan took office in January 1981, the federal government had a four-fold function in public secondary and elementary education that included financing high-cost programs of overriding national significance and advancing the cause of civil rights throughout the nation. According to Reagan's "new federalism," the role of…