The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District (CMS) in North Carolina and the IBM Corporation are working to ensure that parents have access to state-of-the-art communications technology that will enable them to take a more active role in their children's education. Beginning in CMS' newest complex of schools called the Governor's Village, new software called Wired for Learning, developed by IBM, allows parents and teachers to contact each other, but it is far more than just electronic mail. Parents can use the software to receive information on homework assignments, view their children's completed work, teacher evaluations and see how their children are progressing in relation to the district's academic standards.

Although the program can be accessed through online services, families don't need to have their own computer to use it. They are welcome to use the schools' computer labs, which are open days, evenings, and weekends. Or they can access the service at other neighborhood places, including a community center located at the public housing project where many of the children live.

As part of IBM's partnership with the school district, parents are also encouraged to sign a contract agreeing to volunteer an hour each week for each child attending school at the Governor's Village. Parents help out in the classroom, tutor children, accompany them on field trips or work with them on special events or assemblies.   Since the Governor's Village opened in August, 1996, 200 parents have signed the contract, and all of them have been trained to use the customized software.

Recognizing that employees' schedules made it difficult to keep in contact with their children during the school day, Hewlett-Packard, the California computer corporation, teamed up with the Santa Rosa City School District to establish the first work site public school on the West Coast. The Hidden Valley Satellite School, a branch of the Hidden Valley Elementary School one mile away, is located on 2.6 acres of land adjacent to the company's Santa Rosa plant. With priority registration for Hewlett-Packard employees, more than 75 percent of the students' parents are Hewlett-Packard employees.

The company's flextime policy enables its employees to take advantage of their proximity to the school by visiting their children during the day. Teachers report that parent participation is higher than they have seen at other schools, especially among fathers. Hewlett-Packard employees often join their children for lunch. The Hidden Valley Satellite School also encourages parents to volunteer in the classroom, and teachers work with parents to determine the best type of help for each class. Parents serve as teachers' aides, help children with projects, and even provide hands-on instruction in subjects like math and science.

Some parents may worry about what to do with their children during school vacations, but not those who work at John Hancock Financial Services. Thanks to the company's "Kids-to-Go" program, they can bring their children to work with them on school vacation days. The children are met at corporate headquarters by staff members from a nearby social service agency. Using John Hancock as a "home base," the children go on field trips in and outside of Boston. Past activities have included roller skating, bowling and visits to museums and theaters. Some of the children have made lasting friendships. Moreover, the children represent a very diverse population which has helped to make the program such a success.

Pizza Hut has a twelve-year history of helping improve reading. Its most recent addition is an effort to help motivate children to read during the summer, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary Riley's Partnership for Family Involvement in Education.

This effort, called Read*Write*Now!, encourages children to read 30 minutes a day and with a reading partner at least once or twice a week, learn a new vocabulary word a day and obtain a library card?and use it! Children are rewarded at the end of the summer with a personal pan pizza. Read*Write*Now! is part of President Clinton's effort to help every child read well and independently by the end of the third grade.

Pizza Hut also founded the BOOK IT! National Reading Incentive Program, a school-based program aimed at motivating children in grades K-6 to read by rewarding them for their reading accomplishments. Nearly 22 million children in 890,000 classrooms across the country currently participate in BOOK-IT!

U.S. Army units and installations have formed successful partnerships with local schools around the country since the mid 1980's. These partnerships are designed to improve the academic, social and development skills of all children who are in need at the schools. Programs are tailored to meet specific local needs.

One outstanding example of the Army's partnerships can be found at Fort Hood, Killeen, Texas. The Parental Involvement Program, one element of the Fort Hood 2000 education initiative, is a huge success. Designed to increase parents' participation and involvement in the learning process, the program initially required soldiers with children in local schools to attend all parent-teacher conferences as part of their military duty. After the program was piloted in 1994,the local district recorded great gains in student achievement. As a result, the local Chamber of Commerce endorsed a plan to expand the program beyond Army families. Today, employers throughout the local district give parents time off to attend regular, frequent parent-teacher conferences.

United Airlines

In Chicago, where the citywide dropout rate for high school students is fifty percent, United Airlines has decided to make a difference for one small group of children. In 1995, the company "adopted" the fifty students who were then in the sixth-grade class of an inner-city elementary school. The company will continue a partnership with these students until they graduate from high school, when the company has pledged to pay up to four years tuition and fees at any state university for each student.

Each of the students, called Believers, is paired with a United employee, who commits to spending time with the student twice a month for at least one year. Mentors tutor, connect students with resources and opportunities, listen and generally coach Believers on the life skills necessary for healthy interactions in the world beyond their community. In addition to ongoing training for these employee mentors, United sponsors a regular series of events and programs including retreats, picnics, parties, a performing choir made up of class members, field trips to cultural and sports events and trips behind the scenes at the O'Hare airport.

Since the 1982-83 school year. Ashland, Inc. has committed its corporate regional advertising budget to a campaign designed to increase public awareness of educational issues. The company has produced both broadcast and print advertisements about such topics as dropout prevention, teacher appreciation, and business-education partnerships. The 1996-97 school year's advertising campaign focuses on "school to career."

Using the tagline "Put the power of education to work," the advertising promotes the importance of high academic standards. The company continues to produce its free newsletter for parents, Parent Power, which it launched in 1993. Ashland also plays a significant role in statewide education reform in both Kentucky and West Virginia, spearheading the formation of business partnerships to promote the states' educational goals.