 
Team work and technology:
a sampling of activities in an Edison school.
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An
investment in knowledge pays the best return.
Benjamin
Franklin, American statesman and scientist (1706-1790)
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In a less than a decade, a New
York-based company has established a reputation for managing troubled public schools,
but the venture is still struggling to make a profit
 Benno
C. Schmidt Jr. stunned many when he quit one of the most prestigious positions in
academia in 1992 to help lead a controversial educational venture that had no guarantee
it would ever open its first school.
Schmidt was lured from the presidency of Yale University by media entrepreneur Christopher
Whittle to bring some educational prestige to what was then known as the Edison Project,
a venture launched in 1991. The goal: to try new approaches in elementary and secondary
education that Whittle believed would be as revolutionary as Thomas Edison’s replacement
of the candle with the electric light bulb.
Nine years later, Edison Schools Inc. is viewed as the leading company in the movement
towards private management of public education in the U.S. It now manages 108 public
schools serving some 57,000 students, up from 25 schools in 1997-98. Many are so-called
charter schools, namely public schools that are largely independent of the traditional
school districts and operate free of many state bureaucratic rules. They receive
funding from the state government on a per-pupil basis and parents pay no tuition.
But Edison also contracts with school authorities to manage traditional public schools
using its educational model.
“Most people thought of this as a kind of experiment on the edge of the possible,”
says Schmidt, “and a lot of people are distrustful of how a private firm would operate
public schools. But we’ve seen a broader and broader acceptance by public educational
institutions that good, high-quality private firms have a lot to offer.”
In many districts, authorities have turned over some of the worst performing schools
to Edison. While the company has a well-oiled marketing machine, a number of school
administrators have been attracted by Edison’s all-encompassing expertise and bold
approach. The company offers a complete package, which cost $40 million to develop.
Its curriculum is regarded as rigorous, exceeding requirements of most states. School
days are longer than normal, students take Spanish in kindergarten and can study
for the International Baccalaureate. The schools have at least three computers per
classroom, and students can take home a personal computer to work on projects and
surf the Internet as well as to link parents and teachers.
The company has a touchy relationship with the country’s two teachers’ unions, which
have been generally critical of private management. The unions’ chief concerns are
that the company uses relatively inexperienced teachers, and that the teacher turnover
rate is high. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has paid particularly close
attention to test scores and argues that the achievement record is not as rosy as
the company paints it. “Some of their schools have improved and some have really
struggled. There’s no magic in being private,” says Celia Lose, an AFT spokeswoman.
Despite criticism, Edison Inc. is confident. Enrolment has increased eightfold since
1996, revenue stands at $225 million, financial losses are shrinking ($37 million)
and its stock has inched upward since the company went public in November 1999. While
the company’s priority is to get a firmer footing in the U.S. —it has to manage several
hundred schools before realizing economies of scale— it will seek to expand internationally.
“Edison genuinely represents what people in the U.K., especially Tony Blair, call
a third way,” says Schmidt. “It’s not fully private, and not fully public.” He notes
that to many in Europe, privatization of public services has been an “all or nothing”
proposition. It has meant taking a state enterprise “and converting it completely
to private management,” he says. “Edison offers more of a partnership with government.”
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