Edison confronts talk of failure

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Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2002 | 11:16 a.m.

Edison Schools, private enterprise's biggest effort to change the face of public education, is confronting questions about its ability to survive, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

The brainchild of media and advertising entrepreneur Christopher Whittle, Edison Schools Inc. has management contracts to operate more than 100 schools enrolling 80,000 students. One contract is with the Clark County School District in Las Vegas.

Edison lost $86 million on $465 million in revenue in its fiscal year ended June 30. It was recently forced to borrow money at 12 percent interest, indicating dismal creditworthiness, and faces a Nasdaq Stock Market delisting because its shares trade so low.