A Surprising Second Priority: Education

The 100 CEOs gathered at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council had a clear — and unsurprising — top demand for President-elect Barack Obama : Fix the economy. But perhaps unexpectedly, fixing the country’s schools came a close second. The CEOs have gathered here at the Four Seasons in Washington, D.C., to decide what they think should be the top priorities for the incoming Obama administration. They divided up into “task forces” today in four areas: finance and the U.S. economy; energy and the environment; America in the global economy; and health care. At the end of the sessions this evening, they had come up with 18 priorities total. Review the recommendations of the CEO Council . Highest-ranked: To swiftly lead a internationally-coordinated stimulus plan to revive the economy. On a scale of one to nine, with the nine the highest, CEOs voted this priority an average of 7.1. Second: Obama should ask businesses to “lead in the actions necessary to build a ... (link)