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COMMENTARY Editorials, letters, columns and other opinions
Recently, I had
the luxury of be-
ing inspired in an
unlikely place. As
I sat in the movie
theater watching “Dr.
Seuss’ The Lorax,”
the main character,
Ted, lifted my spirit
with his love inspired
actions that changed
his world. I walked away from that movie
thinking about times in my own life when
I have acted out of love as a mother, a
wife, a former teacher or now as a busi-
ness owner, and how good those mo-
ments felt. I realized that those moments
of inspired action all shared one thing
in common, a thought that was unique
enough to make a difference, but similar
enough to be understood. And, I couldn’t
help thinking that inspired action is not
acted on nearly enough in business.
Recently in the San Diego Business
Journal, Qualcomm co-founder Irwin
Jacobs and local biotech CEO Philip
Low spoke from a place of inspired ac-
tion, asking us to stretch our minds to
consider the links between business and
education. These business leaders asked
future mayoral candidates to re-brand
San Diego as an “entrepreneurial hub,”
and at the same time, reminded us all
that high quality public schools attract
high quality employees.
Jacobs and Low are taking inspired
action — asking business to invest in
future success by supporting struggling
public schools today. This idea is unique,
yet realistic. And, that got me excited.
Unsettling Changes
As a mother with children in San
Diego public schools, I have worried as
the number of students in their classes
has risen and enrichment programs have
disappeared.
As a former public school teacher, it
has pained me to watch the workload
go up in the classroom, while teachers’
salaries go down.
As a scholar of education, my doctoral
work taught me the importance of having
small classes, high quality committed
teachers and high standards. Unfortu-
nately, my doctoral work also taught me
how few students graduate today with the
skills necessary to succeed in college or
find jobs in our information economy.
Recently, U-T San Diego reported that
one-third of California’s public school
students attend school districts facing
financial insolvency. Seven of these dis-
tricts are in San Diego County, includ-
ing Carlsbad Unified School District.
Carlsbad, a middle-to-high-income North
County community, is not a city you
would traditionally expect to find on this
list. Carlsbad Unified may have to cut 20
percent of its teachers in order to bridge
a $6.4 million budget gap, forcing officials
possibly to hand out 160 pink slips.
Maybe Jacobs and Low are on to
something. If there was ever a time for
business to build innovative partnerships
with public education, the time is now.
In Dr. Seuss’ great parable “The
Lorax,” business gobbles up available
If San Diego Is to Work Tomorrow, Business
Must Join in Educating Young People Today
resources, leaving nothing but “gluppity-
glup and schloppity schlopp.” In the end,
facing a wasteland where the forest once
stood, the Lorax, the voice of the trees,
leaves the corporate giant, the Once-ler,
with nothing but the word, “unless”
embedded in a rock. “What’s an ‘unless,’ ”
asks Ted, the boy inspired by love to look
for a real tree long after the demise of the
forest. “A thought about something that
somebody ought,” answers the Once-ler.
Joining Forces
In San Diego, businesses have clearly
had “thoughts about something that
somebody ought” and are beginning to
address the crisis in public schools. The
U-T partnered with United Way of San
Diego County, launching the Volunteer
4 Education campaign that boasts more
than 10,000 volunteers in K-12 schools
since its launch in September. Direct
links between business and schools
are being fostered through an ongoing
collaboration between Mission Federal
Credit Union and the San Diego County
Office of Education with its Re-Energize
Education events. A promising website
will launch this month — The Legacy
Link Marketplace — that links local
businesses’ corporate social responsibil-
ity initiatives to education programs.
Similar initiatives have begun to
sprout up all over California and the
nation at large. In Sacramento, a group
called LEED, Linking Education and
Economic Development, links educa-
tion, workforce development and the
economy. In December 2011, an article
in the Wall Street Journal commented on
the role business partnerships can play
in education success. While business’s
recent interest in education is commend-
able, it is important to make sure that
education partners benefit as much as
business’s marketing departments. The
calls of Dr. Seuss’ Once-ler’s big business
mantra, ring true, “Listen here! Here’s a
wonderful chance, for the whole Once-ler
family to get mighty rich!”
Opponents to business education
partnerships have cited similar concerns,
wary of direct marketing to students.
Business has also avoided school part-
nerships due to the potential of bu-
reaucratic red tape and overwhelmed,
under-resourced teachers. The caution-
ary tones of “Dr. Seuss’ Lorax” reflected
in this quote are real, “They say I’m
old-fashioned, and live in the past, but
sometimes I think progress progresses
too fast!” While this growing trend is
promising, it is something to watch.
As I sat in the movie theater watch-
ing “The Lorax” on Dr. Seuss’ (Theodor
Geisel’s) birthday, I found myself hoping
as a mother, a former teacher and a
scholar of education that the business
community in San Diego would heed
Irwin Jacobs’ call and work to improve
our public schools in ways that bring real
progress to those that matter most, the
students.
In dire times like these, the words
of Dr. Seuss’ Once-ler have never been
more true. “Unless someone like you
cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going
to get better. It’s not.”
Andrea Yoder Clark is CEO of Yoder
Clark & Co. Consulting.
COMMENTARY
Andrea Yoder Clark