Dive Brief:
- Banneker High School in College Park, GA is testing out a public-private partnership called the Junior Achievement Magnet Business Academy, which is boosting workforce readiness and financial literacy for the program's 139 participating ninth graders.
- Traditionally, Banneker was a low-performing school, yet the pilot with the nonprofit Junior Achievement of Georgia has helped turn the school around.
- The business-district collaboration is expected to expand next year, bringing 150 more students into the program and providing professional mentorship while exposing them to real-world visits to employers like Chick-Fil-A, Georgia Power and AT&T.
Dive Insight:
District officials looking to begin a public-private partnership should first examine the needs of the student populations they serve, and then consider what options might be available in the community where the district is located. One partnership in Kentucky recently expanded high-speed, reliable internet to every single one of the state's 173 schools by partnering with AT&T, making the Bluegrass state the first in the country to meet and exceed the federal benchmark of 100 Mbps.
Supporters argue that by looking outside of education and partnering with private businesses, public schools can innovate "in ways that might have been difficult otherwise," the Atlantic recently reported. Private philanthropists like Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan and Bill and Melinda Gates can also help schools in need of services or new programs. A more collaborative approach can also be good for businesses, giving local enterprises a stake in helping the communities they belong to by helping to improve what schools can offer.