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A New York City Case Study: The Private Sector and the Reform of Public Education

Public education has become a top priority for the private sector. Philanthropic, business, and community leaders read the 1983 report A Nation at Risk, and the long series of reports on public education that followed, and concluded that the private sector could no longer ignore the problems of beleaguered public schools. Societal and self interest demanded a show of business and community support. The status of our competitiveness as a nation, the quality of our work force, and the well-being of our communities rests on the ability of our public schools to produce well-educated youth, Most recently, President Bush’s plan for education, America 2000, has elevated the concern to presidential and congressional levels. Yet, however influential the president and Congress are in spotlighting the importance of education or in promoting its reform, public education has always been a local function. Education has eluded a “one size fits all” solution. Its success has depended on local will, local initiative, and local dollars. The challenge in communities throughout the country is to capitalize on the heightened concern about education by helping transform public schools into centers with high expectations and high achievement for all students. The Fund for New York City Public Education (FNYCPE), established in January 1989, is a major effort to increase and channel community concern about education toward lasting improvements in the nation’s largest public school system. Part of a national network of similar organizations, the FNYCPE is the result of a concerted effort by a group of foundation and business leaders and draws on over ten years of experience of local education funds in cities across the nation. In less than three years it has raised more than $16 million, put programs into nearly 400 schools, and produced major reports on issues affecting the entire New York City public school system. It is too soon to establish the lasting effect of its work, but the experience to date suggests that the FNYCPE is on its way toward fulfilling its mission to be a catalyst for systemwide reform. Its early success does demonstrate the