The sponsor’s role: fund the HSe4Metrics platform
We call on leading corporations and every federal agency to conduct due diligence and sponsor the free-access HSe4Metrics platform—a societal innovation and true U.S. force multiplier.
Only one sponsor is needed.
A federal agency as the sponsor
An immediate reason for every federal agency to conduct sponsorship due diligence and seriously contemplate sponsorship is the nation’s NAEP results.
Broadly speaking, the leadership of every federal agency holds an obligation to support U.S. K–12 students in excelling on both NAEP assessments (reading, writing, math, and core subjects) and other critical performance metrics.
The Department of Labor (DOL) is a textbook example. It may recognize that unleashing nationwide K–12 student performance would tap into the vast reservoir of the sidelined demographic—those currently destined to languish at the bottom of NAEP assessments. Logically, rescuing that cohort could hypothetically double the number of students graduating with the education needed to become trainable employees—or to pursue higher education and other opportunities. A proactive DOL may also understand that the free-access HSe4Metrics platform should be made available as early as possible in a young person’s life—ideally starting 10 to 15 years before high school graduation.
Alternatively, after decades of failure by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to elevate national K–12 student performance—evidenced by roughly 50% of U.S. students failing to reach basic proficiency in reading and writing—Congress could choose a different path: rewriting the DOE’s founding legislation.
Such reform would make K–12 student performance the department’s central mission, fully separate important but non-core K-12 student performance administrative functions and programs, and place the Secretary of Education under a rigorously enforced K–12 student performance contract (see U.S. Department of Education link).
A major corporation as the sponsor
Every giant corporation has reasons to stay relevant—and strong reasons to sponsor the nationwide HSe4Metrics platform. (As an aside: the platform’s HSe4Metrics name is merely a temporary placeholder and could be of strategic branding interest to a corporate sponsor.)
And keep an open mind: if sponsorship cost seems prohibitive, that should be no obstacle to creative thinking—simply ask a federal agency to form a public–private partnership and provide the funding. Moreover, with or without such a partnership, the sponsorship cost may be insignificant relative to the potential enhancements in key corporate metrics, including free cash flow, brand equity strength, and sustained shareholder value creation.
Together, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) obligations, high-profile sponsorship visibility, the transformation of tens of millions upon tens of millions of students’ lives, expanded market share, and improved margins for the sponsoring corporation offer potential value to shareholders that may be unmatched.
In a letter to JPMorgan shareholders, CEO Jamie Dimon highlighted a $30 billion commitment to a JPMorgan initiative aimed at advancing societal good—a figure that likely stunned many of his CEO peers, who are more comfortable at $30 million. Dimon urged major corporations to follow his lead, while also cautioning that the outcome of true innovation is inherently uncertain.
Dimon did not mention Xerox, but the cautionary tale is worth recalling (see the Jamie Dimon link). On the desk of Xerox’s CEO once sat an industry-changing innovation—complete with patents and a working prototype. Yet rather than take the leadership risk to implement it, Xerox passed. The company fell from market dominance into decline and ultimately into bankruptcy.
Click Procter & Gamble (P&G) to explore how a corporate sponsorship scenario might unfold.
Proprietary protections for the sponsor
Click Funding (By the Sponsor) to view the section “Proprietary protections for the sponsor.”
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