Should schools and companies be best friends?

• Author: Beales, Janet R.
• Position: The Future

Between 1992 and the year 2000, enrollment in California's K- 12 public schools is projected to grow by over 200,000 students on average each year -- from 5.2 to 7.2 million students. To meet that demand, the state Department of Education estimates it will need $17 billion over the next five years for school construction and building modernization alone.

The private sector can help by providing school infrastructure in the form of satellite schools. Satellite schools -- developed five years ago in Dade County, Florida -- operate as public schools on business worksites. The host business contributes land, building space and some operating expenses. The school district supplies everything else -- teachers, supplies, curriculum and administration. Daycare services extend the school day to meet the needs of working parents.

For example, for the 1991-92 school year, the American Bankers Insurance Group, a host business, paid the following operating expenses for its satellite school: utilities, $16,000; grounds maintenance, $6,000; janitorial services, $6,000; building maintenance, $12,000; corporate insurance, $2,700; and furniture, $5,600 -- for a total of $48,300.

Satellite schools in Dade County have saved the public millions of dollars in school infrastructure and...