Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a detailed analysis of the vital links between education and the economy. It considers issues as the "retail complacency" exhibited in most quarters even in the face of crisis and the imperative that schools be relieved of responsibilities beyond their purview. The book focuses on issues as diverse as the overarching need for schools to have a vision, the essential role of parents in children's education, standard setting and the increasingly urgent question of how schools and educators are to respond to the full scope of noneducation demands placed on them. Formally initiated in California in 1987, the program has since expanded to 20 states in every region of the country as the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award program.