Collaboration between schools and businesses in Boston is now nearly a decade old. The most significant achievement of this partnership is the Boston Compact, a formal agreement between the Superintendent of Boston public schools and the Boston business community establishing that the schools will work to achieve annual percentage increases in student retention, curriculum improvement, and testing in exchange for business's preferential hiring commitments for public school graduates. Measurable 5-year goals for the schools include annual 5 percent increases in test scores and attendance records. All graduates are expected to pass competency tests by 1986. For business, the measure consists of the number of graduates hired in full-time entry level, part-time, and summer positions. Goals for the first year were to have 200 companies sign the hiring pledge and to provide at least 1,000 summer and 400 permanent jobs. In addition, 25 local universities signed the Compact and have pledged a 5 percent increase, by 1989, in enrollment of Boston graduates and a concommitant increase in support to improve college retention. The city's many cultural institutions, museums, and social service agencies have redefined their roles as support vehicles for the Compact. Also, because the years preceding high school may be crucial in determining students' school careers, new initiatives have been made in the Boston middle schools to complement the Compact's efforts. (RH)