(FORTUNE Magazine) – CHALLENGES 8 SAVING OUR SCHOOLS By working together, business leaders, parents, teachers, and communities can revitalize our most endangered institution. by Ann M. Morrison

10 TEN THINGS YOU CAN DO

DIRECTIONS 12 MAKING EDUCATION WORK Tutors, mentors, and money help. But business also needs to back radical reform of school curriculums and management. by Brian Dumaine

25 A BIGGER ROLE FOR PARENTS Ambitious programs to include parents in the education system are springing up all over the country. The main beneficiaries: kids. by Susan Caminiti

35 NOW EVERYONE LOVES HEAD START The preschool program is cheap, effective, and due for major expansion. The money should be used to raise teachers' salaries, not just student enrollment. by Ronald Henkoff

LEADERS 46 'WHY I GOT INVOLVED' After years of working to improve the schools, David Kearns of Xerox and Peter Flanigan of Dillon Read tell what they've learned.

WORLD 50 DO U.S. SCHOOLS MAKE THE GRADE? America may be failing to challenge its students the way other nations do. by Alison L. Sprout

GOVERNMENT 53 HOW WASHINGTON CAN PITCH IN George Bush wants to be Education President. So far, he gets an A for rhetoric, an Incomplete for action. States must lead, but there's much for the Administration to do. by Ann Reilly Dowd

62 THE TEN EDUCATION GOVERNORS

MANAGING 65 BEING PRINCIPAL FOR A DAY At a Los Angeles high school, Arco's president met with gangs and listened to teacher complaints. And he thought that running an oil company was tough. by Nancy J. Perry

TECHNOLOGY 72 COMPUTERS COME OF AGE IN CLASS And VCRs and telecommunications systems too. Electronics makes learning relevant. It does not make teachers irrelevant. by Nancy J. Perry

82 TURNING STUDENTS ON TO SCIENCE Want to help the dismal math and science skills of American kids? Just tuck away the textbooks, open up the labs, add an inspired teacher -- and stand back. by Andrew Kupfer

WORK FORCE 86 THE THREE R'S ON THE SHOP FLOOR Companies can't afford to wait for education reform. So they're setting up their own classes in reading, writing, and work skills. by Joel Dreyfuss

STRATEGIES 91 HOW BUSINESS HELPS SCHOOLS All but 2% of the companies responding to a Fortune poll contribute to education -- but some are more committed than others. by Susan E. Kuhn

93 WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING

DEPARTMENTS 4 EDITOR'S DESK 108 TRENDS Outward Bound in New York City, a new computer program to help schools determine priorities, learning to read the word ''pizza,'' and more.

ABOVE: Alan Levenson photographed Linda Linville in her 11th-grade history class at Centennial High School in Corona, California.

COVER: David T. Kearns, chairman and CEO of Xerox Corp., photographed by George Lange in a classroom at South Bronx High School in New York City.