Executive Summary

I've Got A Job For You

Dr. James J. Renier
Chairman of the Executive Committee for Honeywell Incorporated
New Chairman of MCCR Board of Directors

July 1993

A talk with an unexpected visitor with a crucial message confirmed that I made the right decision when I agreed to chair the Minnesota Center for Corporate Responsibility.

She came to my office a couple of weeks ago and asked if I could spare a few minutes. "We need your help," she said. She seemed uneasy, perhaps because her request might be unwelcome. But there was urgency in her voice and her determination was clear. She is a teacher in a Twin Cities suburb, one of the most affluent communities in Minnesota--or anywhere else. And after 20 years, she is on the verge of giving up.

"Can you tell people what the schools are really like?" she said (to paraphrase). "Tell people that school systems all over the country are being wrecked--and nobody knows it, or nobody cares."

Even in her privileged community, students are undisciplined and disruptive to the point that it is difficult to conduct a class. The kids, she said, are so contemptuous of the faculty and of learning that teachers can no longer teach. In vivid personal terms she described conditions that have been documented by research.

The Minnesota Department of Education reported that "Many Minnesota children come to school each day with personal, family and social problems that interfere with learning, school attendance, progress toward graduation and future employability. ...The picture that emerges is one of crisis management."

We associate these conditions with inner-city neighborhoods. But in Minnesota families are also in crisis state-wide. Two-thirds of poor Minnesotans live outside the metropolitan area. The 10 poorest counties in Minnesota are rural. So are most of the counties with the highest teen pregnancy rates.

Traditionally, education has been our best antidote to social problems. But education reflects its environment; the schools can't deliver good education when students are not prepared to learn. To improve education, communities will have to act to give kids a better start for education and for a productive and fulfilling life.

In this mission, the private sector has a particular responsibility. Business people have the training and experience to act as catalysts for action. In addition, the Business Roundtable has found that business leaders have the prominence and credibility required for leadership. Further, businesses are major beneficiaries of social improvement. Companies with education, dependable employees compete most effectively. They thrive best where communities offer a clean, safe environment and self-sufficient residents.

Social costs -- the expenses of public assistance, crime and correction, health care, and social service agencies -- are ultimately borne by production. As these costs go up, they raise the prices of what we make and sell, and our companies become less competitive.

I am dedicated to working for the generations of children to come, helping them form strong families and healthy communities. This is also in the best interest of the private sector and is an appropriate goal for the Minnesota Center for Corporate Responsibility, and an urgent one.

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