Harold Miller ("Regional Insights: Improving Education Is Key To The Future," Sunday, May 4) is right. I take issue, however, with his suggestions for how to make that happen.

Like so many business observers and pundits, it is assumed that somehow by holding public schools more accountable through public pressure and dissemination of test scores there will be improvements in the system. But the responsibility for failure in public education rests with the public and all its members. There seems to me to be a lack of public will to admit each sector's share of the responsibility, let alone to develop a public response that can match the serious shortcomings of the community -- not just the schools.

The list of factors contributing to poor school performance could fill volumes. But business experts as well as seasoned educators would not deny that there are social and family issues -- beyond income -- that have crippled our children's ability to learn.

A suitable public response to this issue must involve an ongoing and substantive dialogue between all sectors -- one that seeks to change the fundamental conditions under which our children are challenged to learn.

The mayor's office is leading an effort with Pittsburgh Public Schools and a group of community-based organizations to develop a master plan to reduce the dropout rate in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh joins 15 other cities across the country seeking to craft solutions tailored to the unique needs and resources of their communities. If this effort can generate a sustained public discourse focusing on the dropout problem, it will be a success.

We desperately need the business public to be involved in this discussion -- just as we need the church public, the family public and the education public.

JIM LENKNER
Director of Development,
Phase 4 Learning Center,
East Liberty