EDITORIAL : ALLIES IN THE CLASSROOM VALLEY BUSINESSES LEND SCHOOLS A NEEDED HAND.

LOCAL schools are welcoming more and more members of the community as partners in education. And it's happening none too soon.

In one of the latest examples of this commendable trend, San Fernando Valley business professionals are embarking on a planned one-year project to assist public schools.

Their goals are to help students focus on the skills necessary to excel in business, and to help school principals become more businesslike and savvy in managing their campuses.

Such alliances, once uncommon, have become the norm in public education. In Los Angeles city schools, more than 1,200 formal partnerships have been established between schools and individual companies.

Those collaborations funnel $15 million worth of donated goods and services yearly to campuses in the Los Angeles Unified School District, ranging from free equipment to classroom visits by corporate leaders. Nearly all the district's schools have been adopted by at least one business in the burgeoning adopt-a-school movement.

Those are encouraging developments, because government spending for education has not kept up with the demand, and because the trend toward greater autonomy for schools - with increased decision-making authority at each campus - requires principals and other local administrators to acquire management skill in areas such as budgeting and cost-benefit analysis.

Providing them with that know-how is one of the goals of the newly announced project by the Valley Industry and Commerce Association. The mentoring project, which 40 principals already have signed up for, is expected to begin next month. Equally important will be its other goal of helping students understand job skills.

Notably, the project is far from unique as a partnership between public schools and VICA. For example, the association started raising funds early this year to buy mobile computer labs for Valley-area schools to give elementary students some hands-on experience in using computers in manufacturing and design.

It would be hard to overstate the importance of such efforts. For evidence of how crucial they are, look no further than last November's announcement of an economic strategy for the Valley.

That action plan for the Valley's future economic growth (developed by the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, and funded by a $350,000 federal grant after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake) reached several important conclusions, including the need to improve classroom learning through cooperation between business and education.

We commend the business representatives, educators and others who are making well-planned attempts to solve those problems. Valley students and the region's economy both can benefit from those worthwhile efforts.