The Public Policy Institute of New York State, The Business Council's research affiliate, has published a summary of The Council's Sept. 21 panel discussion on how businesses can help New York's schools meet the state's academic standards.

The report, entitled What Can Business Do to Help the Schools Improve, is posted on The Council's Web site at www.bcnys.org/pdf/2001/edpanel.pdf.

The Council convened this panel discussion at its Annual Meeting. The goal was to bring top educators in the state together with top business leaders who are committed to improving schools and student achievement. The discussion focused on specific strategies and tactics for pursuing these goals.

The wide-ranging discussion addressed a number of topics, including:

• Specific business-sponsored programs to help schools, and what makes such efforts by businesses and business coalitions more or less effective.
• How business can advocate for better schools -- for example, by championing parental choice in public schools.
• The importance of creative donations by businesses to schools, including gifts of time and service by business leaders and managers in mentoring, technical consulting, and long-range planning.
• Why business must emphasize the proficiencies students should acquire, and then encourage schools to achieve high quality in pursuit of this and other critical goals.

Participants in the discussion were:

• Bill Clark, vice president of State Farm Insurance.
• Todd Feigenbaum, managing partner of Exemplar LLC of Glens Falls.
• Clifford Janey, superintendent of Rochester City Schools. Steve Kussman, executive director of the Utility Business Education Coalition of Virginia.
• Stanley S. Litow, vice president of corporate community relations for IBM and president of the IBM International Foundation.
• Renee Young, principal of C.S. 21 in Brooklyn.
• R. Carlos Carballada, chair of the Rochester Fund of Manufacturers and Traders Trust. Carballada, former chancellor of the state Board of Regents, is also chairman of The Business Council's education committee.