CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP ON MANAGERIAL EXCELLENCE [September, 1993] FOREWORD Corporate Partnership on Managerial Excellence (CPME), comprising 16 Montgomery County corporations and representatives from 11 operational areas of Montgomery County [state of Maryland] Public Schools (MCPS), has undertaken a unique collaboration to examine ways in which the school system can enhance its productivity by the adoption of strategies used by business. This report represents the labors of the past nine months. It is the result of the combined efforts of many individuals and thousands of volunteer hours and reflects the spirit of cooperation and determination to do better in which this work was undertaken. Appreciation is due especially to MCPS employees who worked with us. They provided critical information about the operations of their departments and helped to identify problems and develop proposed solutions. We believe this report, entitled "Investing in a Commitment to Quality," is an opportunity for us, as major employers in Montgomery County, to invest in our schools and in the goal of Montgomery County Public Schools to provide "Success for Every Student." We hope these recommendations will be of guidance to policymakers and administrators in the County and will form the basis for a continuing relationship between the education and business leaders in our community. CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP ON MANAGERIAL EXCELLENCE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Today's Customer-Driven Environment. Profound changes are taking place within the private and public sectors worldwide. Customers are expecting--and demanding--the best. And rightfully so. The globalization of virtually every major industry has dramatically altered the rules of competition. Companies worldwide today face not only local competition but also the challenge of beating foreign companies in their own markets as they provide products and services capable of meeting the increasingly demanding world standards of cost and quality. Schools' Experiences Similar to Businesses'. So, too, MCPS is in an increasingly demanding environment. Schools have been forced to downsize their administrative operations as scarce dollars have been directed toward the classroom. Capital expenditures, other than for new school buildings, have been reduced, and the quality of service in the administrative support operation is not of the caliber most parents and taxpayers expect of a world-class school system. Hence, school administrators need to follow the lead of the private sector to become more effective with limited resources. Businesses Lend Expertise. Business leaders in Montgomery County joined their peers in MCPS in a unique partnership designed to assist MCPS administrators in more effectively managing their business operation. Peer professionals from 16 companies joined representatives from 11 administrative areas of the school system in developing CPME. MCPS has done an admirable job with limited resources, but the unintended consequences of year-to-year short-sightedness without strategic planning and long-term investment are costing taxpayers additional dollars and compromising the standard of excellence we have come to expect of our school system. Action must be taken now. Academic Accolades. One of Montgomery County's greatest assets is its public school system. Frequently cited for excellence in providing education to some 113,500 students, MCPS is one of the prime draws for families moving into the area. In spite of significant budget cutbacks, including the near-complete loss of programs as critical as all-day kindergarten, MCPS has retained its exceptionally high academic stature. School Services Are Big Business. While classroom instruction is perceived to be the most critical role of the school system, the administrative operation of the system is also important to ensuring the best possible education for the County's young people. Just as corporations have multiple support functions such as Finance, Facilities, Data Operations, Personnel, Transportation and the like, MCPS has similar functions within its administrative organization. MCPS holds a commanding presence in Montgomery County with more employees than any private or public entity with the exception of the federal government agencies. Furthermore, it is one of the largest employers in the State of Maryland. Businesses Are Restructuring. In response to fiscal crisis and the increased priority placed on providing quality service to the customer, many "Fortune 500" companies have rid themselves of the layered organizational structure that fostered the notion, "If I do my job as best I can, and you do your job as best you can, the company's work will get done." This parochial approach too often led to a disappointing lack of focus on the customer and became far too costly to manage in today's increasingly competitive global marketplace. Unlike many large businesses, but like many public entities, MCPS has not been able to streamline its operations as much as it should because it is saddled with cumbersome processes driven by short-term objectives requiring multiple reviews by elected officials. Montgomery County taxpayers are not getting the best value for their tax dollars, in part, because procedures established decades ago are still used to manage a school system that has, over the past ten years, doubled its budget to become a $790 million operation in Fiscal Year 1994. Defining "World-Class." Effective positioning for the 21st century demands a relentless global drive for continuous improvement in quality, cost, lead time and customer service. The stakes are high, and today's corporations are working to become "world-class" companies. What is "world-class"? Generally, world-class companies bear the following characteristics: They set performance standards; they care passionately about delivering quality products and services; they are market-driven and customer-focused; they respond quickly to change; they have a global vision and a strategy to turn it into reality; they think globally but act locally; they are not satisfied with the status quo; they empower their people; they are good corporate citizens; and they think beyond quality to embrace all aspects of competitiveness. The same characteristics attributed to companies can be used in defining world-class school systems. Yet, becoming a world-class school system is not a simple process. Restructuring MCPS. The year-to-year approach to financing MCPS makes it very difficult to streamline its operations and invest in the necessary technology and systems that will enable the multimillion dollar school system to function more effectively. Executives and boards of multimillion dollar corporations have realized they cannot manage their companies without internal investments, research and development, and the careful, long-term availability of resources to continue necessary improvements to adapt to market conditions. Wall Street cries for stronger quarterly earnings, but corporations know they must invest to succeed. Montgomery County Public Schools must be in a position to do the same. MCPS employees realize the need for radical improvements, but they need long-term resources, planning and leadership to implement changes. Corporate Partners Unite. To assist MCPS in analyzing its multiple administrative processes, representatives of several local businesses in partnership with MCPS staff formed the Corporate Partnership on Managerial Excellence (CPME). Volunteers from 16 companies focused on 11 administrative areas within MCPS, operating under the premise that peer professionals working together could learn from one another and ultimately strengthen the school system. The 11 teams focused on the following administrative areas of MCPS: - Communications - Martin-Schaffer, Inc., and Potomac Electric Power Company - dissemination of information about policies, programs, resources and the performance of the school system, as well as special projects for internal and external audiences. - Data Operations - Vitro Corporation - computer operations and support, data conversion, production services and system support. - Educational Accountability - Discovery Communications and Ferris, Baker Watts, Incorporated - program evaluations, management studies and cost-benefit analyses, audits, standardized academic testing, management information system development, central records management, policy and regulation development and codification. - Facilities Management - Bell Atlantic and Marriott Corporation - design, construction, maintenance, housekeeping, utilities and energy management, and safety concerns. - Financial Management - GTE Government Systems and NationsBank - budget analysis and development, accounting, payroll, and management of employee benefit and retirement programs. - Food Services - Guest Services, Inc. - food purchasing, warehouse management, cafeteria service, nutrition concerns and sales. - Logistics - Bechtel Corporation - purchasing procedures, warehouse management, supply and material distribution, and inventory procedures. - Personnel - Howard Hughes Medical Institute - staff recruitment and hiring processes and procedures, staff development and personnel data management. - Strategic Planning - Martin Marietta Corporation - multiyear financial and expenditures planning, resource allocation, department priority identification and planning, and interdepartmental and inter-agency methodologies for achieving system and unit goals. - Total Quality Management - IBM Federal Systems Company and Marriott Corporation - developing strategies and implementation plans for quality management among all employees. - Transportation - Computer Sciences Corporation and Washington Gas Company - fleet maintenance and repair, staff training, transportation operations and safety issues. In addition, another team developed the final report and the strategy for presentation. They are representatives from Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker, P.A., OffBeat Marketing, S. W. Morris and Company, Inc., The Widmeyer Group, Inc., IBM Federal Systems Company and Montgomery County Public Schools. Ensuring Future Strength in Montgomery County. MCPS is a world- class school system in academic rankings, and CPME members want to ensure that this strength persists because it is a critical asset to the current and future economic and cultural strength of our community. The County's young people are our future employees, and they must be prepared to be productive workers. They represent our future tax base. It is essential that they receive the best possible education. Today, many businesses and their employees are taking a more active role in confronting some of society's more pressing issues. Education is among those societal issues and CPME would like to develop an ongoing partnership with MCPS to ensure that the public school system so vital to this community maintains the highest academic standing. CPME members consider this project a critical investment in the future economic strength of Montgomery County. A public school system is not merely the purview of parents with children in the school system. An astonishing 73% of households in Montgomery County do not have school-age children. Yet, the economic viability of the County is undoubtedly of interest to each taxpayer. How We Begin. You will find more than one hundred recommendations within this report, but four broad findings continue to surface regardless of specific operational area. There is a need for: 1. properly executed long-range strategic planning that is focused on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative operations MCPS's complex budget cycle is a year-round process beginning with the Superintendent's request going to the Board of Education, the County Executive and the County Council until its final adoption. Throughout that process, cuts are often made, with each body using a different set of decision rules for the decreases in funding. This results in lack of coherence in strategy and a false sense of savings. For example, in the area of information technology, short-term cuts may appear to solve immediate budget objectives but instead exacerbate and confound future budget considerations, adding long-term expense. MCPS needs to develop and execute a long-range strategic plan to avoid such cuts. Many local companies have been painfully reshaping themselves into entities capable of competing successfully in the 21st century. MCPS must do likewise if it is to remain among the highest-quality public school systems. The process of strengthening the administrative areas will require a consensus between educators and elected officials, the adoption of a multiyear implementation schedule, and a commitment to stick to that schedule. Recommendation: The Superintendent and his administrative staff must develop an integrated, five-year, strategic plan covering all administrative areas of MCPS. Then the Board of Education, County Executive and County Council must support MCPS by adhering to the long-range plan. 2. revising the budget process to accommodate multiyear investments and to project life-cycle costs The ability to fashion and implement a long-range strategy is hampered, if not downright thwarted, by the annual budget cycle and system-wide budget cuts. Often, MCPS is unable to budget for and fully fund any initiative requiring more than one year's funding to complete. This is painfully obvious in the automation area, where computer hardware and software in the administrative offices and in the classrooms is mismatched, outdated, underpowered and underutilized. Recommendation: MCPS administration should be prepared to ensure that the operations and capital budgets will be more closely linked. The two budgets do not reflect full life- cycle costs of MCPS and therefore do not contain the data necessary to support long-term planning and budgeting. 3. automation and increased use of technology Significant operating efficiencies and cost savings could be achieved if some critical functions now performed either manually or semiautomatically were fully automated. We are not recommending MCPS become the state-of-the-art office of the future. Instead, MCPS can follow the path of many of the partner companies and use readily available software and equipment for administrative functions. The following areas are prime examples where technology could improve effectiveness: Payroll The process for ensuring 17,000 paychecks are produced is an ad hoc combination of manual, semiautomated and automated functions. Half of the employees are paid one week, the other half the next week. It takes almost 50 hours to process, print and reconcile one week's payroll. The system is vulnerable to failure and error in a variety of ways, particularly because the system is heavily dependent on human intervention. Personnel The salary and employment history for MCPS employees is currently maintained on some 16,000 index cards. While some of the information is also stored in semiautomated systems, employees have found it easier and more timely to utilize index cards versus a cumbersome, outdated electronic system. Procurement (Purchasing) Each year, MCPS staff in the Division of Materials Management fulfill some 20,000 requisitions for the 2,500 items stocked in the warehouse. The flow chart depicting the ordering process includes more than 50 steps--over half of which could be eliminated if the process were fully automated. In addition, there are some 35,000 requisitions for standard items not currently warehoused, creating an equally burdensome process. While planned efforts are underway to automate the Logistics/Materials Management System, it is critical that funding be continued. The additional capital outlay required for the completion of Phase I of the procurement module is $25,000, while benefits are projected at over $100,000 per year. Similar positive cost-benefit scenarios will occur throughout the development of the entire project. Transportation All bus route scheduling for 965 buses transporting 70,200 students is completed by hand, using maps and handwritten timetables. This extremely complex task is not only time- consuming but vulnerable to errors. It should be noted that a computer-based route automation system is currently being developed and that it is a multiyear project that may be subject to funding cuts as have other previous multiyear requests. Communications MCPS's Department of Public Information (DPI) receives more than 200 calls daily from the general public and employees. Recognizing that the five-person DPI staff is charged with many difficult tasks, the addition of a more sophisticated telephone system capable of being programmed to provide answers to the most commonly asked questions and refer calls to other departments would enable the DPI to provide much better service to its customers. Recommendation: MCPS administration must develop an information technology plan that focuses on providing the administrative operation with the resources necessary to effectively manage the system's business operations. The information technology plan must also accommodate the needs of the students and the teachers. Then, the Board of Education must assume a leadership role in obtaining the approval of the County Council. The Board of Education must stop using the budget for information technology investment as the bill payer for budget shortfalls. 4. minimizing duplicative reporting requirements Corporate managers were sympathetic to the burdens created by the number of reports required of the school system. While it is important to provide accurate, timely and pertinent financial data to local, state and federal entities, a substantial amount of the information reported is duplicative. The requirement to provide the data for almost 275 reports over the course of a budget year is costly, inefficient and unnecessary. While CPME has not addressed whether many of these reports should be eliminated, it recommends a standardization of formats so that the number of reports could be drastically reduced. We estimate that the 275 reports could be significantly reduced with minimal impact on the requesting organizations. Recommendation: The Board of Education must work with state and federal providers of funds to bring the issue of duplicative reporting to their attention and to provide recommendations for easing the reporting process. Use TQM as a Foundation. Many businesses have adopted Total Quality Management (TQM) as a means of analyzing their current systems and designing efficient, effective businesses. The values of TQM support each of the broad findings of this report and, if implemented in MCPS, should help create a cycle of continuous improvement that would allow the school system to adapt more readily to change. Administrative Operation Affects Children. MCPS's administrative arm is in need of assistance. To their credit, dedicated employees are doing their best to keep the support services of MCPS functioning so that children of Montgomery County will continue to receive an outstanding education. Some examples include: 1. Limited on-line access to teacher and/or applicant information requires principals to spend excessive amounts of research time to identify viable candidates. This includes travel to review paper files for candidates and lengthy telephone conversations that divert their attention from student-related matters. 2. The lack of timely, readily available vacancy and candidate information results in hiring delays and the potential loss of exceptional teaching candidates to other high-quality schools. 3. The free and reduced cost lunch programs have significant complex procedures involving the student, the parent, the principal, the classroom teacher, the food service manager and the Director of Food Services' staff. These labor-intensive regulations with myriad requirements detract from the primary objective of educating our children. The energetic and creative employees have been forced to use antiquated tools for the most complex tasks. The creation of a sophisticated information systems network needs the support of the entire Montgomery County community. If MCPS is to retain its world-class ranking, its leaders must, as world-class companies are doing every day, take a candid look in the mirror and see things as their employees see them. Cumulative Effects of Neglect. The system suffers from the unintended consequences of the cumulative effects of the failure to make key long-range investment decisions that, while costing money today, improve productivity and effectiveness in the long term. A false sense of "savings" should not distract policymakers from the real cost of ineffectiveness. Follow a Vision. A vibrant community requires its public and private sectors to continually assess, update and improve their performance, so that all citizens can learn more and earn more. In 1991, MCPS established its vision and goals. Broadly labeled "Success for Every Student," the vision and goals have served as a guide for decisions affecting the quality of education for each student in the system. The same foresight, commitment and energy must now be directed toward creating the infrastructure needed to support the efforts to implement "Success for Every Student." Joint Ownership and Commitment to Such Change Essential. The Office of the Superintendent, the Board of Education, the County Executive and County Council, MCPS employees, parents and taxpayers all must dedicate themselves to achieving this common goal. Maintaining world-class status requires cooperation, stamina, ingenuity, flexibility and leadership. The business community is ready to stand behind MCPS's efforts to ensure that the administrative operations of MCPS are strengthened so that educating the young people of Montgomery County continues to be marked with world-class success. BACKGROUND High-Level School/Business Partnerships Required in County. For many years, the school/business partnerships in Montgomery County have been limited to participation in Adopt-a-School, the Connection Resources Bank, the Vocational Trades Foundations and various mentor programs. All are important and very successful efforts. Yet, the kind of high-level collaborative and systematic partnership that a vital and growing community must have between its business community and its public school system administrators has been lacking in Montgomery County. County and school officials joined business leaders in agreeing it was time to change the nature of school/business relationships. In letters mailed in September 1992 to more than a dozen businesses located in Montgomery County, County Council Member Michael Subin and the former Board President Catherine Hobbs invited recipients to participate in a unique initiative that would bring them into close, working relationships with the staff and the administrative operations of MCPS. Having previously raised the business involvement issue in other forums, Lawrence A. Shulman, the senior partner in the law firm of Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker, P.A., and former president of the Maryland State Board of Education, volunteered to organize the effort. The basic foundation for the initiative addressed three characteristics of the school/business relationship: 1. Local companies had no major communications links with the public school system, but strongly wanted to initiate those links. 2. Local businesses believed a good school system to be a critical factor in the local economy. 3. Business and the school system shared many common administrative processes. Corporate Partnership on Managerial Excellence Emerges. What grew out of several early meetings was an ad hoc group of companies with a common goal and a strong sense of ownership-- CPME. Designed to match the operational strengths and expertise of businesses in Montgomery County with corresponding administrative areas of the school system, CPME members volunteered thousands of hours to assist MCPS employees in analyzing their respective administrative processes and to offer recommendations for improvement. Consultant Approach Ineffective. At first glance, CPME sounds like other concepts that have been tried many times in the public sector. The process frequently involves a group of 20 to 30 local business representatives becoming a "blue ribbon committee." They hire a consultant who, through a few interviews, skims the surface in analyzing various processes. The consultant then processes and presents a polished, high-toned report that ultimately collects dust and leads to little or no action. Similar studies in other school systems have cost several hundred thousand dollars but CPME has conducted this effort at nominal cost.CPME More Effective. CPME is a more creative and more effective approach. It is a partnership where all participants have a sense of ownership and a stake in the outcome. It pairs professionals in the public and private sectors to share knowledge and develop recommendations so that the appropriate governmental bodies will have the resources and research necessary to take action. Broad Range of Corporate Participation. All of the business partners have experienced the effects of a difficult economic climate. Lessons learned from layoffs, cutbacks, restructuring and reorganizations are also applicable to the public school system. The need for increased flexibility, streamlining and speed required to adapt to change are as important to the public sector as to the private sector. Interest in CPME Overwhelming. Sixteen corporations responded to the invitation to participate in the initiative, a sure sign that CPME was on the right track. Members recognized the opportunity to use their professional skills in helping MCPS. The fact that many of the employees whose time was generously made available for the project by their employers are also parents or grandparents of school-age children only enhanced that sense of ownership and dedication to the task. The business members of CPME set as their goals: 1. To undertake an in-depth study of the effectiveness of major administrative functions that constitute the infrastructure of MCPS by pairing the skills of professionals from the local corporate community with their peers in MCPS through a team approach using management techniques focusing on quality processes. 2. To present to elected officials and the public the recommendations of the study in an objective, clear and concise manner to focus on solutions for the future rather than casting blame for actions in the past. 3. To support and testify on the recommendations before those political bodies charged with acting on them. 4. To continue the communication and exchange with MCPS that has been created through the project to further the improvements in the administrative functions of MCPS and assist the school system in reaching its goal of "Success for Every Student." CPME has neither the authority nor the desire to be a policy- making body. Instead, it seeks a thorough review of the current practices of MCPS administration and a candid, open approach to seeking opportunities for improvement in MCPS. CPME recognizes it is not in a position to implement the recommendations. The Superintendent, the Board of Education, the County Executive and the County Council hold responsibility for taking action. No Blame. No Easy Answers. CPME has focused neither on pinpointing blame for why the system is the way it is nor on creating a magic list of easy answers that, if implemented, would painlessly save MCPS millions of dollars or improve productivity overnight. Instead, CPME has worked to produce a thoughtful review of many of MCPS's administrative processes with recommendations for improvements. The volunteers from the various corporations have donated many hours and other resources to study and analyze the school district's functions, and the recommendations outlined in this report are the product of their efforts. In addition, the corporate partners have offered to continue working with MCPS because all agree that the county's public school system is vital to the continued prosperity of Montgomery County, the region and the state. HIGHLIGHTS OF FINDINGS Each team's report includes a series of recommendations for increased effectiveness of a particular administrative area. You will find details supporting each recommendation in the specific team reports, but the top recommendations from each team are outlined below: STRATEGIC PLANNING 1. The Board of Education needs to establish a policy that provides for the development and implementation of information technology plans that are consistent with fulfilling the information needs of the 21st century. That policy must focus on multiyear funding and investment budgeting. 2. Business executives should be encouraged to become advocates for support of MCPS. 3. CPME should examine the feasibility of building on the experience of many corporations by developing a management training program that would strengthen the planning processes within the school system. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 1. Capital and operations budgets should be more closely linked and associated. 2. Reduce or consolidate the financial reporting requirements of the various local, state and federal providers of funds. 3. The payroll system, particularly the level of automated support to payroll function, should be modernized. TRANSPORTATION 1. Increase awareness of the Board of Education and the County Council on cost-benefit analysis and life-cycle costs to ensure prudent decisions are made regarding operations (i.e., bus replacements, information systems and facilities). 2. Implement a decision support system designed to optimize the utilization of technology and provide for fact-based operating management. 3. Move expeditiously to implement the computer-aided scheduling and routing system. 4. Develop a cross-functional planning capability within MCPS for such issues as the integration of special and regular education needs to deliver quality services at minimal costs in-state and preferably in-county. Facilities Management personnel, Transportation staff and those managing school openings and closings must consider the total system cost of the decisions involving transportation.DATA OPERATIONS 1. Revise the budgeting process for computer software development. 2. Establish general, broad-based standards for microcomputer applications and hardware configurations. 3. Review the procedures for procurement, assignment, maintenance and administration of microcomputers and networks. FACILITIES MANAGEMENT 1. Produce on a routine basis the total cost of operation by discrete cost category per school. 2. Produce on a routine basis the productivity of the various trades by discrete functional category, by depot and/or school. 3. Continue to evaluate out-sourcing opportunities for select services. LOGISTICS (PROCUREMENT) 1. Automation of the entire Logistics/Materials Management System is essential. 2. The current procurement process requires a fundamental restructuring, specifically in terms of developing bidder lists, proposals, blanket purchase orders and specification requirements; evaluating proposals and approval authorities and awarding contracts/purchase orders. A comprehensive manual establishing procurement procedures must be developed. 3. The individual schools, under established guidelines and controls, should be given responsibility for all their allocated funds; empower the professionals to make decisions affecting their schools. 4. Eliminate the damaging budget cycle of late allocations and early freezes that has a negative functional and psychological effect. Schools are adept at circumventing the system, essentially defeating the intended purpose of these actions. FOOD SERVICES 1. Maximize potential of central production facility by capitalizing on state-of-the-art computer support and increased economies of scale. 2. Develop an incentive compensation system to reward school- based food service staff when they meet or exceed financial goals. 3. Establish focus groups to investigate ways to increase student participation through enhanced marketing, merchandising and promotions. 4. Pilot a customer debit card system for all food service sales. Over the long term, the debit card can be used for student identification, school activities, etc. PERSONNEL 1. Expedite replacement of the Personnel Master File system so that replacement is completed by spring 1994 and the benefits may be derived for next year. 2. Expand on-line access to the Position Management System so that it is also available to staffers and principals. 3. Modify the application process and materials to streamline the administrative steps required and enhance the applicants' ability to complete their applications. COMMUNICATIONS 1. Develop a clear set of goals and measurable objectives annually that support the school system's mission; take a proactive approach in communicating the school system's position and identity. 2. Develop a plan for the Superintendent that more efficiently fulfills a "customer relations" function in handling the thousands of annual public and employee calls. 3. Develop and expand the support provided to the school clusters through a concrete plan to increase communications directly with parents and citizens residing in the area. TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM) 1. Use a four-phase approach to implement TQM in MCPS over the next 15 months: - Phase 1 - Build commitment to TQM - Phase 2 - Create the organization's TQM framework - Phase 3 - Involve the organization and corporate partners - Phase 4 - Perform a formal assessment of the system and plan the next steps EDUCATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY 1. The Internal Audit function should be focused upon ongoing proactive efforts to assess financial risk and ensure that adequate internal controls are maintained. The Board of Education's audit committee and the Superintendent should meet regularly with the Internal Audit Director to discuss the system's risk exposure, establish audit priorities and be appraised of audit findings. 2. The records management and forms administration tasks currently performed by the Policy, Regulation and Administrative Services Division of the Department of Educational Accountability, and some data compilation functions of the Instructional Evaluation and Testing Division should be reassigned to Supportive Services. 3. The Board of Education and Superintendent should be advocates against further proliferation of state-mandated testing requirements and should seek opportunities to reduce testing programs, which do not prove to be effective or are unduly burdensome to administer. CONCLUSION Time for Change. CPME is sounding a cry for help in strengthening the County's public school system. The business community must have a well-managed school system in its list of attributes to attract new employees. What's more, the young people of today will become our future employees, and we must have well-educated people to make decisions that will enable both the public and private sectors to continue their growth in Montgomery County. Businesses will remain here only as long as the area proves to be a wise investment. Business leaders may, however, choose to locate elsewhere if the quality of the public school system is allowed to decline and fails to meet their standards for excellence. The Superintendent must carefully analyze the findings in this report, recognizing that many of the recommendations have come from his own employees. Then, the Superintendent must make appropriate recommendations to the Board of Education. Though many of the recommendations can be implemented without additional budget allocations, there will be a need for some funding. That's when the County Executive and County Council must take action. Taxpayers of Montgomery County must understand that the "pay me now or pay me later" principle is really MCPS's call for help. Think Strategically. We recognize that the actual instructional process is of a world-class quality, and we strongly support and appreciate the efforts of our county's teachers, principals, Superintendent and county government leaders in fostering that level of education for our young people. We are, however, extremely concerned about the slow, needlessly complex processes plaguing the administrative area of the school system because those support services are also vital to ensuring that our young people are properly educated. Some of these processes could be streamlined without a single dollar being spent. Other changes will require reprioritizing expenditures. MCPS's leaders and the Board of Education must focus more heavily on the administrative support operation and recognize that MCPS employees in many areas have been keeping MCPS's business arm operational by sheer perseverance and a "can do" attitude. Survival in this manner is a risky proposition. Many of the suggestions and ideas have come from the staff themselves, who have been stymied in their efforts to upgrade their processes and work environments. These employees work extremely hard, often under difficult circumstances, to see that services and supplies are delivered properly. They work in areas that are easy to forget and easy to ignore, particularly when everybody is clearly dedicated to providing the best possible education for Montgomery County students. The individual team reports that follow make amply clear the seriousness and the dedication of the participants from both the school system and private business. The high level of trust that developed allowed the corporate members to view processes in their assigned areas as they actually appear to the school system employees who work in each business area. No efforts were made to obfuscate or impede the work of the corporate teams. In fact, the candor of the schools' staff was surprising in its intensity and served as the spark for a truly productive relationship. Establish an Ongoing Partnership. Members of CPME believe that the value the private sector can bring to the educational sector should not be limited to a one-time study but should encompass ongoing support to the school system. CPME wants to facilitate more frequent contact with peers in MCPS and help ensure that the recommendations placed on paper are truly realized in actions. The corporate partners are committed to continuing the working relationship with MCPS if school and county officials are willing to confront and act upon the issues that are contributing to the weakening infrastructure of MCPS.