| EMPLOYERS FOR LEARNING
About the Program
The Employers for Learning program aims to support businesses as
they create workplace policies that clearly support education and
help employees to better balance home and work. Thirty years of
research shows that when family and community members are directly
involved in education, children thrive. They are better behaved,
earn better grades, comprehend more of what they read, graduate
at a higher rate, and are more likely to enroll in higher education.
With survey after survey showing that working parents are finding
it increasingly more difficult to participate in their children's
education, both at school and at home, businesses are recognizing
that they must do more. Companies throughout the nation are finding
that by instituting family-friendly policies, they have increased
recruitment, retention, and productivity.
To encourage local businesses to promote the importance of education
and help their employees take a more active role in their children's
educational activities, the Newport News school division and the
Newport News Educational Foundation launched the Employers for Learning
program at a Business and Education Summit in November 1999.
Business representatives who are interested in joining the program
are given materials on starting an Employers for Learning program
and asked to pledge that they will develop or continue initiatives
that assist employees in supporting their children's education.
The business leaders who sign the pledge designate an Education
Liaison to work with the school division, which provides support
and resources.
Support
from NNPS
To help businesses jump
start their Employers for Learning program, the school division
has put together an information packet for liaisons, which includes
a detailed resource CD-ROM. The information packet and CD include
items for employers to use in their newsletters, such as articles
for parents on homework and test-taking. They also include ideas
businesses can use right away to support working parents, such as
holding "brown bag" workshops on school topics and allowing
employees to use company technology for school-related purposes.
The school division sends liaisons a monthly e-mail newsletter
which provides parent tips, ideas, and information. NNPS also hosts
periodic meetings for liaisons to assist them in planning their
programs.
Interested in getting involved? Visit the Starting
your program section.
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