The goals of the Rochester (New York) Education Initiative are to inform the total community of the crisis of low academic achievement within the public school system, and to involve the total community in a set of strategies to correct the problem. Activities included the following: (1) meetings to solicit the support of key community leaders and groups; (2) "speakouts" to solicit the views of students, parents, and educators; (3) a conference to involve a broad cross-section of community leaders in the development of an action plan; (4) "town meetings" to bring to the public's attention those issues which were identified in earlier phases; and (5) activation of School Action Committees (SACs) to implement at least one identifiable project which they felt would substantially improve academic achievement in their schools. Specific programs described in the report include the following: (1) School Action Committees; (2) City-Wide Task Force; (3) Business Task Force; (4) business programs; (5) the Center for Educational Development (CED); (6) human service agency programs; (7) church programs; (8) college programs; (9) foundation involvement; and (10) city school district programs. It will take several years to determine the impact of the Initiative, but data from the Black Scholars program and the Early Recognition Program already indicate some improvement in minority achievement. A brief biography of each author is included. (FMW)