At nearly 50 workplaces around the country, it's "take your child to work day" every school day of the year. No, these companies aren't breaking child labor laws; they're recognizing and fulfilling a need for working parents to balance work and family and to give their children a good education--through workplace schools.

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Companies that invest in establishing elementary schools or kindergartens at or near their workplaces say any costs and associated responsibilities are more than offset by the competitive edge they gain in hiring, reducing turnover, developing a happier workforce and building good will in the community. Many employers find that the schools are a natural extension of on-site child care centers for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

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Working parents say these on-site schools reduce stress, generate more family time and get them more involved in their children's education.

While the current number of workplace schools nationwide remains relatively small, there is the potential for solid growth in the future, according to experts such as Lisa Snell, director of education and child welfare at Reason Public Policy Institute, a Los Angeles-based think tank. The trend toward corporations launching schools has been stymied by the frustration of dealing with school district bureaucracies, according to Kevin P. Chavous, a partner in the law firm of Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal LLP, and former Washington, D.C., city councilman who served on the education committee.

But he believes the trend will grow despite the challenge. "It's starting to hit home" that problem-plagued school districts are not turning out the skilled workers that corporations need, Chavous says.

Organizations like his law firm are working to solve the problem. Sonnenschein is helping finance--with an initial grant of $1 million--and will manage an elementary school opening in August, in an underserved area of Chicago.

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Chavous sees an eventual "paradigm shift" toward educators focusing solely on curriculum development, teaching and other classroom issues while corporations take on the operational and management roles, including human resource functions.

If a workplace school receives any public financing, it operates either as a charter school or contract school. A charter school is designated by a school district, state board of education or other governing body that allows the school to act independently of local school district regulation, according to Snell. Charter schools are eligible for public school funds for each child they take from the school district.

A contract school is a partnership where the local school district operates the school on a corporate campus or in a business district as any other public school, and the company involved provides support, such as security and physical maintenance of the building.

Companies can choose whichever type works best for them, provided it satisfies state laws and school district parameters. Corporations also may contract with private firms to create and operate on-site schools.

Whatever the form, companies with workplace schools have found that this employee benefit pays off in numerous ways--recruitment, retention, enhanced employee morale and, more indirectly, improved education for students, which builds a smarter workforce for the future.

Schooling in the Sunshine State

Among the states most conducive to workplace schools is Florida, which is the only state that has specific legislation allowing contract schools, Snell says. Additionally, Florida is the only state that allows employers to host schools strictly for their employees' children.

Assurant Solutions, a Miami-based specialty insurer, was among the pioneers of workplace schools. On its campus, the company has a kindergarten through fifth grade contract school operated by the Miami-Dade County public school system.

The school, which opened in 1987 and grew grade by grade as enrollment rose, now has 250 students--all of whom are the children of employees. The company accepted the local school district's invitation to offer an alternative that would help ameliorate the overcrowding of schools. The company already had a day care, "and it was a natural outgrowth to consider going further," says Audrey Steiger, senior vice president of human resources with overall responsibility for the school.

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Assurant supervisors say employees are more productive and absenteeism is reduced among workers whose children attend the school. Also, turnover for these employees is between 5 percent and 7 percent, compared with 16 percent for the rest of the employees in Miami, Steiger says.

Having employees' children in the workplace school "keeps people more engaged in the workplace," believes Steiger. "It contributes to success for the student, the parent and the organization."