The strength of partnerships within and without the educational enterprise provides the ability to alter or modify existing practices as social and economic realities emerge. A number of interdependent factors raise questions related to partnerships. Demography is a major factor; while a substantial portion of the aging population will have less immediate stake in the condition of schooling, a rebuilding of coalitions will take place as the increase in the number of adults with young children becomes more concerned with the condition and quality of schools. Tax resistance and spending reductions due to a depressed economy have served to split former partnerships that served our public schools. A sense of community seems to be having difficulty being reborn, but there are encouraging indications which portend a mending of our social fabric, not only for the survival of American society but for the future of the institutions that form the glue for that society. Many existing partnerships, particularly in rural areas, have come to the forefront in the past several years, and strengthening those ties in light of inevitable changes becomes essential. Such partnerships must involve students, parents, schools, administrators, teachers, boards of education, colleges and universities, and business and industry. (BRR)