As America approaches the year 2000 things have changed drastically. A nation that once was the leader in industry and education is losing its grip on both. Today America can boast to the fact that 27 million Americans are functionally illiterate. Lester Thurow estimates that as much as 20 percent of the entire American workforce may be functionally illiterate, that is, unable to read at a fifth grade level.(Views of Sloan School of Management's L. Thurow) The drop rate in today's schools is one million each year and that rate could be as high as 50 percent in some inner cities.(Ehrlich 1988) Of the 2.4 million that do graduate as many as 25 percent can't read or write at the eig

The need for broad-based community support for education has never been greater, the demand is at all levels, especially for active, positive role models for children. America's youth needs to develop globally competitive skills because the competition for the future's jobs probably lives in another country. Businesses and schools have a vested interest in working together to prepare today's students for tomorrow's workplace and this alliance can work to enhance and enlarge the skill base we provide our children. Together they can have a real impact on the multitude of issues that face employers and educators alike.

This effort will be costly both to American business and to the taxpayer, but the consequences of not taking the challenge will result in America suffering in the international marketplace. Higher unemployment, more dollars for social services, and a growing gap between the skilled and unskilled in America will also result. Whatever it takes, new funds or reallocation of resources, the voice of American business should be heard loud and clear because the cost of ignorance is far greater than the cost of knowledge. If every child who reaches the age of 18 by the year 2010 could read sophisticated materials, write clearly, and speak articulately, and solve problems using math, the American economy could easily exceed the 4 percent growth rate of the boom years. Enhanced by the productivity of a well educated workforce, American business could once again assert leadership in old and new industries and the workers would enjoy the rising standards of living they did in the 1950's and 1960's.

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