For years, business has been content to stay above the political fray of school improvement, happily delivering dollars to educational leaders when called upon. But if business is truly serious about driving reform, it needs to recognize that it is uniquely positioned to step up in more consequential ways than donating supplies or sponsoring scholarships.

Business and civic leaders have long been key players in the push to improve America's schools. Business leaders should be partners, not pawns. Working with school districts or policymakers doesn't mean carrying their water; it means settling on shared objectives and pursuing them jointly.

The authors point out that while volunteer tutoring and college scholarships are beneficial, this kind of involvement by business in public education will not power the changes needed to significantly transform the education system and increase student achievement.

Year in and year out, there is a new international assessment showing that American students lag behind their international peers in math and science. While some gains have been made, we still have not seen the transformative change that is necessary.

Commissioned by the US Chamber's National Chamber Foundation, the report details how the American business community can use its credibility, political heft, and role as the employer of America's science, technology, engineering, and math talent to apply innovative thinking and actions to areas such as academic standards, human capital, and new school models.

For-profits may have incentives to cut corners in pursuit of profits, but this trait is the flip side of valuable characteristics: the inclination to grow rapidly, readily tap capital and talent, maximize cost effectiveness, and accommodate customer needs. Alongside nonprofit and public providers, for-profits have a crucial role to play in meeting America’s 21st century educational challenges.

Business is such a humdrum word for such a revolutionary idea applying scientific management and critical thought to everyday economic and social activities.

Over the past decade, a number of remarkable organizations have cropped up that dramatically shape twenty-first century education reform. Joining this influx of groundbreaking, reform-minded organizations is Rice University’s Education Entrepreneurship Program (REEP), housed at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University.