If I ran my business the way you people operate your schools， I wouldn’t be in business very long！”

I stood before an 1）auditorium filled with outraged teachers who were becoming angrier by the minute. My speech had entirely consumed their precious 90 minutes of in-service. Their initial icy glares had turned to restless 2）agitation. You could cut the hostility with a knife.

I represented a group of business people dedicated to improving public schools. I was an executive at an ice cream company that became famous in the mid-1980s when People magazine chose our blueberry as the “Best Ice Cream in America.”

I was convinced of two things. First， public schools needed to change； they were archaic selecting and sorting 3）mechanisms designed for the industrial age and out of step with the needs of our emerging “knowledge society”. Second， educators were a major part of the problem： they resisted change， 4）hunkered down in their feathered nests， protected by tenure and shielded by a 5）bureaucratic 6）monopoly. They needed to look to business. We knew how to produce quality. Zero defects！ 7）TQM！ Continuous improvement！

As soon as I finished， a woman’s hand shot up. She appeared polite， pleasant—she was， in fact， a razor-edged， veteran， high school English teacher who had been waiting to unload.

She began quietly， “We are told， sir， that you manage a company that makes good ice cream.”

I smugly replied， “Best ice cream in America， Ma’am.”

“How nice？” she said. “Is it rich and smooth？”

“Sixteen percent butterfat，” I crowed.

“8）Premium ingredients？” she inquired.

“Super-premium！ Nothing but 9）triple A.” I was on a roll. I never saw the next line coming.

“Mr. Vollmer，” she said， leaning forward with a wicked eyebrow raised to the sky， “when you are standing on your receiving dock and you see an 10）inferior shipment of blueberries arrive， what do you do？”

In the silence of that room， I could hear the trap snap… I was dead meat， but I wasn’t going to lie.

“I send them back.”

“That’s right！” she barked， “and we can never send back our blueberries. We take them big， small， rich， poor， gifted， exceptional， abused， frightened， confident， homeless， rude， and brilliant. We take them with 11）ADHD， 12）juvenile rheumatoid arthritis， and English as their second language. We take them all！ Every one！ And that， Mr. Vollmer， is why it’s not a business. It’s school！”

In an explosion， all 290 teachers， principals， bus drivers， aides， custodians and secretaries jumped to their feet and yelled， “Yeah！ Blueberries！ Blueberries！”

And so began my long transformation.

Since then， I have visited hundreds of schools. I have learned that a school is not a business. Schools are unable to control the quality of their raw material， they are dependent upon the 13）vagaries of politics for a reliable revenue stream， and they are constantly mauled by a howling horde of disparate， competing customer groups that would send the best CEO screaming into the night.

None of this negates the need for change. We must change what， when， and how we teach to give all children maximum opportunity to thrive in a post-industrial society. But educators cannot do this alone； these changes can occur only with the understanding， trust， permission and active support of the surrounding community. For the most important thing I have learned is that schools reflect the attitudes， beliefs and health of the communities they serve， and therefore， to improve public education means more than changing our schools， it means changing America.

如果我按照你們這幫人運營學(xué)校的方式來經(jīng)營自己的生意，我很快就會被踢出商界了！”

我站在一個禮堂的前方，那里坐滿了憤憤不平的老師，此時，他們變得越來越憤怒了。我的演講已經(jīng)完全耗盡了他們珍貴的90分鐘在職培訓(xùn)。他們原先冷冰冰的瞪視已轉(zhuǎn)變成了焦躁不安的激動?，F(xiàn)場的敵對氣氛濃得幾乎都可以用刀來切開。

我是致力提升公立學(xué)校素質(zhì)的一個商人群體的代表。我是一家冰激凌公司的高管，這家公司在20世紀(jì)80年代中期變得聲名顯赫，《人物》雜志還將我們生產(chǎn)的藍莓冰激凌評選為“美國最美味的冰激凌”。

我確信這兩點。第一，公立學(xué)校需要改變；它們是陳舊過時的選拔機構(gòu)，是專門為工業(yè)時代而設(shè)計的，與我們新興的“知識社會”的需求脫節(jié)。第二，從教人員是造成這個問題的主要因素：他們拒絕改變，“縮”在自己的“安樂窩”里，受終身職位制度和官僚壟斷機構(gòu)所保護。他們需要放眼商界。我們才知道如何打造品質(zhì)。零瑕疵！全面質(zhì)量管理！不斷完善！

我剛一講完，一名女子就舉起了手。她看起來大方有禮，親切和藹——但實際上，她是一位言辭凌厲的資深中學(xué)英語教師，一直在等待時機一吐心聲。

她平靜地開口道：“先生，我們聽說你管理的這家公司能做出美味的冰激凌?！?/p>

我得意洋洋地答道：“是全美國最美味的冰激凌，女士?！?/p>

“有多好吃呢？”她說?！翱诟胸S富并且柔滑嗎？”

“含有16%的乳脂，”我炫耀著說。

“是用了優(yōu)質(zhì)的原料嗎？”她問道。

“超級優(yōu)質(zhì)！只用最優(yōu)質(zhì)的。”我得意連連，從沒預(yù)想到會有這么一句話向我襲來。

“沃爾默先生，”她向前傾著身子，毒辣地挑起一邊眉毛說道，“當(dāng)你站在收貨碼頭，看到一船次級的藍莓運抵時，你會怎么做？”

在房間的一片寂靜之中，我能聽見捕鼠夾吧嗒一聲關(guān)上……我就是那只“老鼠”，但我不打算撒謊。

“我會把它們送還回去?！?/p>

“這就對了！”她厲聲說道，“而我們永遠都不能送還我們的‘藍莓’。我們接受他們，無論大小、貧富，無論是天賦異秉還是杰出卓越，是受過欺辱、擔(dān)驚受怕還是自信滿滿，是無家可歸、粗魯無禮或是才華橫溢。我們接受他們，無論是患有兒童多動癥，兒童類風(fēng)濕性關(guān)節(jié)炎，還是以英語作為第二語言。我們統(tǒng)統(tǒng)都接納！每一個！沃爾默先生，而這就是為何它不是生意的原因。它是學(xué)校??！”

在一陣爆發(fā)聲中，所有的290人——教師、校長、巴士司機、助理、管理員和秘書——都一躍而起，大聲嚷道：“對?。∷{莓！藍莓！”

而我漫長的轉(zhuǎn)變之旅就此開始了。

自那之后，我拜訪了成百上千所學(xué)校。我認識到一所學(xué)校并非一門生意。學(xué)校是不能控制其原料質(zhì)量的，為了獲得可靠的收入來源，他們依賴于難以預(yù)測的政治策略，而且他們還不斷受到一大批意見相異、互不相讓的客戶群體的咆哮抨擊，這些人會逼得連最能干的執(zhí)行總裁都午夜尖叫。

而所有這些都無法打消改革的需要。我們必須要改變教學(xué)的內(nèi)容、時機和方式，來為所有的孩子提供在后工業(yè)化社會健康成長的最大機遇。但教育者無法獨力完成這一任務(wù)；這些改變只有得到周圍社區(qū)的理解、信任、許可以及積極支持才能發(fā)生。我明白到的最關(guān)鍵一點是：學(xué)校反映了它們所服務(wù)的社區(qū)的姿態(tài)、信仰和發(fā)展?fàn)顩r，因此，要改善公立教育就意味著不僅僅只是改變我們的學(xué)校，這意味著要改變整個美國。