Conflict or Consensus?

Why Collaboration Between Cities and Schools Is the Key to Reform

By Donald J. Borut, Anne L. Bryant, & Paul D. Houston

It often seems that city and school leaders don’t agree on much. Turf battles and political rivalries all too often end up as headline news. Yet new survey research from the three national membership associations representing these groups shows that they actually share common perspectives on many of the issues that matter most to the future of public education in America.

We all know that communities with high-quality public schools have a distinct advantage in the competition for new businesses and private-sector investments. We also know that when local schools are strong, they create more durable connections between young people and their hometowns, producing a next generation of citizens who will be more productive and better equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

In response to a recent set of surveys administered by the National League of Cities, the National School Boards Association, the American Association of School Administrators, and the Learning First Alliance, overwhelming majorities of city officials, school board members, and superintendents expressed the belief that providing high-quality education improves community life and social cohesion, attracts and retains families, helps develop a skilled workforce, fosters economic growth, attracts new jobs, and increases real estate values. City and school officials clearly agree that the fortunes of our cities and our...