Edison makes pitch to School Board

Ed Koch and Jace Radke

Friday, Jan. 12, 2001 | 11:14 a.m.

For what seems like forever, public school districts have run public schools and private entities have run private schools and, as poet Rudyard Kipling put it, "never the twain shall meet."

One big hurdle local school officials, educators and parents will have to overcome is the concept of private companies running public schools if the Edison Schools concept is going to work in Southern Nevada.

An even bigger hurdle will be money, which is what will be needed to bring Edison Schools, the nation's largest public school management firm, to Clark County to run some of the district's most at-risk schools.

Clark County School Board Trustee Ruth Johnson expressed concerns about raising as much as $6 million as start-up money for the program, after listening to a presentation from Edison officials at Thursday's school board meeting.

"There seems to be a large amount of money that is assumed to be raised," Johnson said. "I'm concerned about how that money comes to be. We have to know the funding is there before we start putting kids in these programs."

Chris Whittle, president and chief operating officer of Edison Schools, believes that funding can be worked out citing $40 million raised by his company through charitable donations in California for that state's Edison Schools.

The company estimates that the program will cost about $45 million for the first four years, with the majority of that money coming from Edison Schools investors and philanthropic donations. The company spends on average $6,500 per student while the Clark County School District gets just $5,000 in state and federal money.

Changing the mindset about who should operate public schools is another issue.

"I've seen it all over the country -- newspapers beating up on school districts (editorially) for seeking private firms to educate public school children," Whittle said. "Instead, school districts should be congratulated for finding new ways to educate children through public-private partnerships."

Superintendent Carlos Garcia, who brought Edison Schools to Fresno when he held a similar post there, and supports the program, acknowledges such criticisms.

"Am I selling out our public schools? That's not how I look at it," Garcia said. "When I look at the haves and the have nots and some private group wants to help the kids (who are have nots), I say let's talk. As superintendent, I work for all the kids."

Garcia said that although one of the arguments against Edison will be that it apparently has a formula that the school district should have, it is not a matter of someone else knowing more about how to do the job. It's a question of funding.

"I could run circles around them (Edison) if I had their resources," Garcia said. "They spend about $1.5 million per school in start-up expenses. Where am I going to get $1.5 million per school?

"They also bring to the table a national research center that I cannot afford. I am underfunded and cannot do a lot of what they as a private business can do. I feel I am exploiting their resources."

Whittle, who founded the Edison Schools in 1991 and now oversees 113 schools nationwide, said along those lines, he recently entered into a contract with technology giant IBM to purchase 250,000 personal computers and wireless internet.

Edison provides computers to every teacher. Each Edison student in the third grade or higher is given a computer. Students also take monthly tests on the internet, the data of which is sent to their teachers to see what improvement is need in what areas for each student.

As for the funding-per-student issue, Kathy Hamel, executive vice president of Edison Schools, said something can be worked out.

"The figure of $6,500 is our national average -- we take as little as 4,500 in Kansas to as much as $10,000 per student in Connecticut," she said. "We can operate on $5,000 in Las Vegas, but we will need some philanthropic help to get started."

Whittle, noting that his company has lost money every year it has existed and is still two to three years away from turning a profit, said his firm is willing to contribute "a significant amount of capital" to get its foot in the door in Las Vegas, "but not the whole amount."

Whittle also is quick to note that, "you (Nevada) are well below the national average" in state money allocated for schools. Garcia said Nevada ranks 37th in the nation in spending money on primary education.

Whittle initially got the idea for Edison Schools in 1989 and formally announced it at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in 1991. He spent the next four years with his team visiting school districts around the world to learn what techniques would work best.

The company has raised more than $400 million in private equity and has another huge advantage over typical public school districts -- it can employ deficit spending.

Today, 45 cities in 21 states have Edison Schools -- mostly in poor areas. Seventy percent are public-private schools and the other 30 are charter schools.

"This is not privatization -- we are held accountable by school boards for our performance," Hamel said.

Seventy-percent of Edison's 57,000 enrollment is children of color, and about 70 percent of Edison's students are from poor families.

While the average school day locally is six hours long, Edison schools operate on a seven-hour day for kindergarten through second grade and an eight-hour day for third through 12th grades, providing time for classes like art and physical education. And Edison students are offered the same after-school activities as schools run by the district, Hamel said.

Locally, Edison would manage at-risk schools, most likely Madison and Fitzgerald elementary schools. If implemented, Edison would begin running schools in the fall.

Whittle said Edison often is assigned students who are below the national level of achievement and works with them to over a period of time bring their scores in line with the national average. Also, parents of Edison students are required to sign contracts agreeing to set their children's goals on a quarterly basis.

Although Whittle says his company from its start agreed to deal with teacher unions, he admits his program has received opposition from some teacher unions and from communities that for whatever reason object to private firms running public schools.

The trustees will again hear from Edison School officials in February, where they will submit a final proposal.

In other business, the School Board re-elected Mary Beth Scow as the board president in a 4-3 vote.

Trustee Ruth Johnson nominated Scow, while Larry Mason nominated Shirley Barber. Barber received just three votes, from herself, Mason and new School Board member Denise Brodsky, clearing the way for Scow to take the position.

Sheila Moulton was named vice president, and Brodsky was chosen as the group's clerk. The positions are for one year.