A Compass in the Storm

Guiding principles for a new age of business and school partnerships.

By Lamar Alexander and Richard W. Riley

It's only the beginning of the academic year at South Plantation High School in south Florida, but Principal Joel Herbst finds himself occasionally— and happily—preoccupied by his expectations for the end. Right now he's especially excited about the graduation ceremony set for June 2003, where he hopes many of South Plantation's seniors will, as he puts it, "walk across the stage with a diploma in one hand and something else in the other."

Something else?

"Think of it as a supplementary diploma, proof positive that our students have skills and experience that decisionmakers in higher education and the workplace are really looking...