Edison Schools

A private for-profit company that runs three Baltimore schools won approval from the state school board yesterday to finish the final two years of its five-year contract. Edison Schools was hired by the state three years ago to run Gilmor, Montebello and Furman L. Templeton elementaries. State school officials have credited the company with improving attendance and test scores at the once-failing schools.

The Baltimore school board voted last night to keep a for-profit company in charge of three elementary schools, but the details of how the company will be paid have yet to be completed. School board documents estimate that Edison Schools will receive $14.6 million to continue running Montebello, Furman Templeton and Gilmor elementary schools next academic year. Though the figure may change, the company will likely receive less than it does now under a contract with the Maryland State Department of Education.

MARYLAND, which has a dismal record in funding public education, has decided to guarantee adequate expenditures for some disadvantaged Baltimore City students. But it's for only 85 of them, and the State Department of Education isn't bragging or even publicly mentioning it. That's because the services are being given only to students receiving intensive special education services in the three low-performing city schools that the state has taken over and contracted to Edison Schools Inc., the country's leading for-profit operator of public schools.

Seven years ago, Baltimore school officials reacted angrily when the state education department seized control of three failing elementary schools and turned them over to a for-profit management company. But as soon as tonight, as the state returns the three elementaries to local control, the city school board is expected to vote to continue the partnership with Edison Schools. City officials said they were swayed by significant improvements in the culture of the three schools, Montebello, Furman L. Templeton and Gilmor, particularly increased parent involvement.

City school teacher Earl Johnson had job offers this year from Howard County, Washington, the Archdiocese of Baltimore and Edison Schools Inc., the for-profit company taking over three of Baltimore's failing elementary schools. He chose Edison. They have a mission to tnrn the school around and get it back on the map," said Johnson, who will teach first grade this fall at Montebello Elementary, one of the states worst-performing schools. "That's the kind of recipe I'm looking for. I want to be a part of that.

PHILADELPHIA - Edison Schools Inc., a controversial for-profit education company, loses money. The company says it can become profitable if it increases the number of public schools it manages. Philadelphia may be about to give Edison that opportunity. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge has hired the company to study the Philadelphia School District and devise a plan for improving its academics and finances. And in two months, Ridge will decide whether this firm, with which he has political ties, should manage some or all of the Philadelphia public schools.

PHILADELPHIA - Joyce Henderson's fifth-graders at Morton McMichael Elementary School had been in a lively discussion about getting along. But now they were restless. One boy kept sneaking a harmonica out of his pocket and playing it whenever the teacher turned her back. A girl with long braids was taunting two boys sitting near her. A fight was about to erupt between two other girls. The noise level was rising. Henderson, a 28-year veteran of the Philadelphia schools, remained calm. She put her right hand in the air, with two fingers raised together.

Three Baltimore elementary schools taken over by the state six years ago have seen a significant drop in test scores this year, and at least one might not meet federal No Child Left Behind standards. Scores at Furman L. Templeton and Gilmor elementaries dropped at least 10 percentage points in most grades, and scores for fifth- and sixth-graders at Montebello Elementary also fell sharply. The three schools are run by Edison Schools Inc., a for-profit company chosen in 2000 by state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick and the state school board.

PHILADELPHIA - In what is believed to be the largest experiment in privatization ever mounted by an American school district, a state panel charged with improving the Philadelphia public school system has voted to transfer control of 42 failing city schools to seven outside managers, including Edison Schools Inc. and two universities. The three members of the School Reform Commission appointed by Gov. Mark Schweiker voted to approve the plan, while the two members appointed by Mayor John F. Street voted against it. Last week's vote capped a fiery three-hour meeting in which the two sides had split over whether Edison, the nation's largest for-profit operator of public schools, had the capacity and know-how to improve the 20 schools that it was assigned.

SOMETIMES, the details speak volumes about an issue, while the big picture says little or nothing about what's really going on. Don't buy it? Look at the news this week that three privately operated Baltimore elementaries did pretty well on national reading and math exams. Yes, it's important that these three schools - all chronic under-performers before they were turned over to Edison Schools last year - seem to have found their footing and are headed in the proper direction. And yes, state educators are right to do a little chest-thumping now about their decision to privatize the schools, which had inspired snide catcalls from city school officials.

State schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick will allow three Baltimore elementary schools run by a corporation to return to city school system oversight next summer rather than risk another battle over state control with the Maryland General Assembly. Grasmick unexpectedly revealed her new position during a pep rally yesterday at one of the schools run by the company, Edison Schools Inc.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s first negative advertise ment of the election campaign began running in the Baltimore area yesterday, criticizing the perform ance of city schools and legislators' decision to block a state takeover of 11 middle schools and high schools. It does not mention increases in test scores in the city in recent years, nor does it say how Ehrlich would have improved the targeted schools if the state had been allowed to take con trol of them. What the ad says: The ad shows video of a series of men and women saying that while Maryland has some of the best schools in the nation, some of the worst are in Baltimore.

Three Baltimore elementary schools taken over by the state six years ago have seen a significant drop in test scores this year, and at least one might not meet federal No Child Left Behind standards. Scores at Furman L. Templeton and Gilmor elementaries dropped at least 10 percentage points in most grades, and scores for fifth- and sixth-graders at Montebello Elementary also fell sharply. The three schools are run by Edison Schools Inc., a for-profit company chosen in 2000 by state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick and the state school board.

These questions loomed over the debate about the city school takeover yesterday: Will it work? Can the state improve learning at 11 Baltimore schools by giving them to independent operators? Few states have tried such an experiment, but where it has been tried there is no clear record of success. The best example may be in Philadelphia, where all middle schools improved over the past three years, whether run by the city or others. In Baltimore, the state has claimed success at the three elementaries run by the company Edison Schools, but not everyone agrees with that judgment.

Three Baltimore elementary schools run by the for-profit Edison company are making progress, but it's costing more to run them than other city schools that have seen bigger jumps in test scores, according to a new Abell Foundation report. The state brought in Edison Schools Inc. with fanfare in 2000 to run the three schools, which were failing so badly that the state had taken control of them. The company brought with it a new curriculum and method for organizing schools. Among the findings of the report, scheduled for release this week: Edison, the nation's largest for-profit school management company, retains the equivalent of $1,425 for each child it serves at Furman L. Templeton, Gilmor and Montebello elementary schools.

A private for-profit company that runs three Baltimore schools won approval from the state school board yesterday to finish the final two years of its five-year contract. Edison Schools was hired by the state three years ago to run Gilmor, Montebello and Furman L. Templeton elementaries. State school officials have credited the company with improving attendance and test scores at the once-failing schools.

Pupils in the three Baltimore schools taken over by the state for low achievement posted improved scores on national reading and math examinations in their first year under control of a for-profit company, state educators announced yesterday. The improved test scores at the three elementaries run by Edison Schools prompted the state school board to agree to let the company expand the privatization experiment by adding sixth grade at each school. "I think we have to reward success," said state board member Edward Root.

State schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick will allow three Baltimore elementary schools run by a corporation to return to city school system oversight next summer rather than risk another battle over state control with the Maryland General Assembly. Grasmick unexpectedly revealed her new position during a pep rally yesterday at one of the schools run by the company, Edison Schools Inc.

City school board member David J. Stone has quietly applied for a job in the school system overseeing the city's charter schools. Should Stone receive the position, he will be working for the very people who now answer to him and fellow board members. Ethics experts have differing opinions about whether it is an ethical conflict for a board member to seek employment in the school system that he helps govern. Some experts said Stone should have resigned from the board before applying for the job, to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

Montebello Elementary School was closed yesterday after vandals broke into the school over the weekend, shattered interior glass doors, spray-painted the gymnasium floor and trashed the school. "When you walk anywhere in the building there are shards of glass everywhere," said Richard O'Neill, a senior vice president for Edison Schools Inc, a for-profit company that operates the school. Montebello, at 2040 E. 32nd St. in Northeast Baltimore, is one of three city public schools run by Edison Schools.