Every few months or so Jamie Vollmer’s “blueberry story” makes the rounds on the e-mail circuit as an inspirational and humorous pick-me-up of sorts for educators feeling under attack.

In short, Jamie tells of his days as a high-profile business executive -- head of a company that became famous for its blueberry ice cream -- who loudly and frequently griped about the quality of public schools and ineptness of educators. But one day when he blasted a group of teachers and school staff for not behaving more like business folk, a sharp-witted teacher promptly tore his case to shreds. [www.jamievollmer.com]

As Jamie become more involved with his local schools, he realized his naïveté and used his humbling experience to start an educational consulting business. He’s now a leading advocate for public education and wants to help corporate types better understand how schools work, and why.

Too often, business leaders expect schools to run just like businesses, he says. But the biggest difference is that while executives can run their companies with little outside input, school superintendents must answer to the school board, parents, business and community leaders, and the public at large. And even if they make all the decisions that a corporate executive would consider correct, they still may lose their jobs.

“This public aspect makes the game fundamentally different,” Jamie says.

Building constructive school-business partnerships can help school leaders not only build better programs but also weather the inevitable politics of the job. But it takes time and effort from both sides, but can be well worth the effort. Read more tips from Jamie and others who’ve done it in my September article, “The Blame Game.”

Joetta Sack-Min, Associate Editor