A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

        FOR RELEASE                                       Contact: Jennifer Ballen      September 19, 1996                                         (202) 401-1576

Better Education is Everybody's Business

As part of the second annual America Goes Back to School: Get Involved! initiative, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley today praised employers around the country who are working to increase family and community involvement in education. Efforts by business to involve working parents, employees and the community in education include:

Across the country during the month of September, United Airlines is airing a two minute video on all domestic flights encouraging business support and involvement in education.

The New York Stock Exchange is participating in the Teach the Teacher program, the Principal for a Day program, Day on the Trading Floor program for professors, and through the Junior Achievement Applied Economics Program, allows staff to teach in schools. Secretary Riley also joined Dick Grasso, CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, to ring the opening bell of the Exchange on September 3.

580 Flagstar Hardee's restaurants, located primarily in the Southeast, will help local schools raise money during the 1996 to 97 school year for technology and other school improvement programs. Craig S. Bushey, president of Flagstar Hardee's, has signed on as a corporate member of the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education.

Starting in the fall, DuPont will host a series of lunchtime seminars at the worksite on topics such as How to Develop A Partnership with Your Child's School, Helping Your Child Apply to College, and Connecting With Your Teenager.

On September 18, the California State Department of Education and Southern California Edison will host a back to school celebration in Long Beach. Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project will announce their contributions to the Parent Institute for Quality Education, which has trained parents to participate actively in their children's education.

On October 19, GTE will hold College Planning Seminars to provide employee parents and students information on the college admissions process and financial aid. The interactive teleconference will broadcast live to over 3,000 GTE employees and their children at 40 offices across the country.

In Wisconsin, Bill George, CEO of SC Johnson Wax, working with the Racine Chamber of Commerce, has invited business leaders to visit schools and meet with the superintendent and school board president to review and discuss how businesses can support the district's strategic plan.

Hewlett Packard is encouraging over 3,500 employees across the country to serve as e mail mentors to 5th through 12th grade students and teachers who are engaged in math and science activities.

In Massachusetts, William Boyan, president and CEO of John Hancock Financial Services, and numerous other leading business executives will meet with the mayor and superintendent of Boston and Boston area high school principals at a CEO/Principal Leadership Summit to gain a realistic sense of the challenges facing administrators in the schools.

Riley said that with the serious demands on schools as a result of the "baby boom echo" -- the children of the so called baby boom generation that are now in school -- now more than ever, schools can no longer do it alone. "Better education is everybody's business," Riley said, "and every parent, business, community and religious group should focus their attention during this important back to school time of year on how they can play a more active role in improving education."

Thirty years of research show that when family and community members are directly involved in education, children achieve better grades and higher test scores, graduate at greater rates, are more likely to enroll in higher education, are better disciplined, and less likely to use drugs.

America Goes Back to School: Get Involved! is an initiative of the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education and the U.S. Department of Education. The Partnership is supported by over 1,000 business, family, education, religious, and community groups. Businesses large and small across America have joined the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education by signing the Employers for Learning Promise, a commitment to actively promote family involvement in learning through family friendly policies and programs.

America Goes Back to School: Get Involved! activity kits are available by calling 1 800 USA LEARN or http://www.ed.gov/Family/agbts. The kit gives concrete ideas, resources, and examples of how parents, families, community groups, employers, and educators are working to help children learn.

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