Educators who benchmark other "successful" educational agencies and/or private-sector organizations to find "best-practice" ideas face potential pitfalls. The benchmarked organization may have incompatible goals and objectives, obsolete processes and operations, and different primary clients and beneficiaries. Most organizations, public or private, do not rigorously identify "societal value-added" as a central purpose. Schools must do so or be replaced. (29 references) (MLH)