Edison Schools

RE CHRIS BRENNAN'S article "Edison Is Angling to Avoid Bankruptcy" (Oct. 22): If Mr. Brennan's article is the first in a series, what is the series about? Is the Philadelphia Daily News actually promoting a series that focuses on hype and half-truths? At what point will Mr. Brennan get the story straight? 1. Finances Why did Mr. Brennan write a story that says Edison is in financial peril then discuss Edison's $30 million in cash on hand? In fact, Edison expects to be profitable this year.

Earlier this month, I had the good fortune to speak to Paul Vallas one-on-one. I asked him if he knew the school where I teach. He told me it wasn't on his radar screen, but admitted he has concerns about what is happening at Edison Schools. According to colleagues at other schools, this sounds warranted. I recently had a conversation with a teacher from another Edison school who said teachers there are fed up with Edison because of a new, disconnected principal, serious problems with the class roster, the elimination of a disruptive-student accommodation room, and the late arrival of materials (and in some cases, lack thereof)

Analysts who follow Edison Schools Inc. were not fazed when Gov. Schweiker and Mayor Street extended the deadline for a state takeover of city schools to Dec. 21. They still expect Edison to wind up managing 45 schools. But some are concerned about Edison's finances. Those analysts say Edison is burning through cash so rapidly that it could run out of money by this summer - with or without a Philadelphia contract. "They need to go to the capital markets or they have a serious problem as a going concern," said Craig Hart, a money management specialist with Hart Capital Management Inc. in Spokane, Wash.

An important anniversary went by with little notice last month: The company now known as Edison Schools Inc. turned 10 years old. The milestone is important in Philadelphia because the company is managing 20 of the city's most troubled public schools. And it's important across the nation because Edison is the pioneer and largest player in for-profit school management, which those in charge of national educational policy regard as a key solution to low student achievement. The federal law known as No Child Left Behind holds public schools up to unprecedented standards and mandates different strategies for those that don't improve.

Days after claiming it was not responsible for the safety of its pupils, Edison Schools Inc. has settled a lawsuit brought by the family of a boy raped in one of its Philadelphia schools. In 2004, a 12-year-old boy was sexually assaulted by an 11-year-old classmate in Stetson Middle School after the two argued over a ball. The 11-year-old pleaded guilty to the assault. The boy's family brought a civil suit claiming Edison was responsible for the assault, a notion the for-profit manager of 16 public schools rejected.

Officials of Edison Schools Inc., hired by Gov. Ridge to study the Philadelphia school system and recommend ways to improve it, had their first meeting with Mayor Street yesterday. The meeting, which both sides described as productive, came as Edison sought to complete agreements with subcontractors who will help with the extensive analysis, which must be complete by the end of October. "It was a positive first meeting," said city Education Secretary Debra Kahn. "We have to be shown that this will be an honest and accurate, fair appraisal that addresses the educational and financial constraints that we have and also addresses and acknowledges the progress we've made.

School officials will hold a hearing tonight on a proposed charter school that would provide students with home technology, longer school days, and a foreign language starting in kindergarten. At 7, representatives from Edison Schools Inc. of New York City will be at the Phoenixville Area Middle School auditorium to answer questions about the proposed Renaissance Academy-Edison Charter School, which is scheduled for a September 2000 opening if approved by the board. The school is the second charter proposal to come before the board this year.

IAM OFFENDED by your suggestion that Edison Schools be on the school district's "hit list" (editorial, March 3). My son attends a Philadelphia-Edison partnership school. With the Edison program, the school is better now than it has ever been. My son, along with many other students, is finally receiving the quality education he deserves, and I can see the huge progress he is making. I resent you trashing the hard work and commitment of teachers, staff, parents and students.

Edison Schools Inc. announced yesterday that it had approved a buyout plan offered by Edison founder Chris Whittle to take the nation's largest school-management company private in the fall. Edison and area education officials said the change would not affect operations in the schools Edison operates in the Philadelphia area. Still, the move is a significant retrenchment for Edison, which went public only four years ago. Its stock reached a per-share high of $38.75 on Feb. 8, 2001.

The first academic scores for student performance in schools operated by Edison Schools Inc. in the Chester Upland district show mixed results - with the best marks coming from the one district school that Edison does not run. Local and state officials said they generally were pleased with the results announced yesterday; Edison officials called the results a "baseline" and promised improvement next year. The 7,250-student district, perennially one of Pennsylvania's lowest-performing districts, was put under state control in 2000 to improve academic results.

An in-depth state report on Camden's schools "in crisis" laid out several recommendations in August, including hiring a superintendent who could transform the district. But just as the Camden Board of Education had narrowed its search to three candidates last week, the process came to a halt when Gov. Christie announced a full state takeover of Camden schools. Working through the office of state Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf, Christie will appoint the next superintendent.

Chris Cerf, New Jersey's acting education commissioner for a year and a half, won the approval Thursday of the Senate Judiciary Committee after a nearly four-hour, far-ranging confirmation hearing. His appointment now goes to a full Senate vote, possibly next week. Before the unanimous vote, the senators quizzed Cerf, a former New York City schools official and past president of Edison Schools, a private operator of public schools, on a broad array of topics: the state's pending teacher-evaluation system, proposed changes to tenure rules, virtual-charter schools and the public school funding formula, to name a few. But some of the most pointed questioning focused on what delayed the confirmation hearing for so long: issues involving Cerf's residency.

Chris Cerf, New Jersey's acting education commissioner for a year and a half, won the approval Thursday of the Senate Judiciary Committee after a nearly four-hour, far-ranging confirmation hearing. His appointment now goes to a full Senate vote, possibly next week. Before the unanimous vote, the senators quizzed Cerf, a former New York City schools official and past president of Edison Schools, a private operator of public schools, on a broad array of topics: the state's pending teacher-evaluation system, proposed changes to tenure rules, virtual-charter schools and the public school funding formula, to name a few. But some of the most pointed questioning focused on what delayed the confirmation hearing for so long: issues involving Cerf's residency.

Mary Scullion the visionary Kudos to the Inquirer Editorial Board for proclaiming Sister Mary Scullion, executive director of Project H.O.M.E., "a warrior" ("Fight to end homelessness has become even harder," Saturday). Indeed, this leading advocate has been a courageous visionary, battling for the rights of the homeless. She has also inspired legions of young people to step forward and speak out for those who have been marginalized by the arbitrary and capricious nature of a society that, far too often, is frozen in the ice of its own indifference.

Back in the early 2000s, when I was teaching at Villanova, I spent several months studying the hapless efforts of an out-of-state, out-of-touch, for-profit company, Edison Schools, to manage the Chester Upland School District. One day, standing outside a Chester charter school, I tried to greet children coming off a bus. They refused to talk or even wave, looking straight ahead like warriors with thousand-yard stares. Once safely inside the school, though, the same kids were cheerful and happy to talk to a strange white dude.

I READ Josh Cornfield's article about Philadelphia School District financial officer Michael Masch and found it both off-target and unnecessarily personal. Masch has served the public in budget-related finance roles for many years. He served on the staff of the Philadelphia City Council, as Philadelphia's budget director, and as Gov. Rendell's budget chief in Harrisburg. In these positions he had to gather information, made decisions and set priorities for billions of dollars. He has shown great integrity in these positions and sometimes made tough calls.

By Christopher Paslay Earlier this month, around the time the Phillies fell into their offensive funk, another local team found itself in trouble. The School Reform Commission, put in place a decade ago to help revive the city's struggling public schools, was beginning to implode. Last week, two of the SRC's five members - Robert L. Archie, its chairman, and Johnny Irizarry - announced their immediate resignations. Along with a vacancy created by David F. Girard-diCarlo's departure in February, that forced the remaining members to postpone a meeting for lack of a quorum.

LEROY NUNERY II, 55, was appointed acting superintendent of the district when Arlene Ackerman resigned. A quick look at his career: * Nunery was a finalist for the job that went to Ackerman. He then served in various posts in the district before Ackerman made him her deputy superintendent. * Before that, Nunery founded his own education-management consulting company, PlusUltré LLC, and was president of school management for Edison Schools Inc. from June 2005 to August 2007.

The new leader of the Philadelphia school system - at least for now, and perhaps permanently - is known for molding consensus and moving forward. Leroy Nunery II, the deputy to now-departed Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman, was named acting superintendent Monday, taking control of a troubled and adrift 155,000-student system. Nunery, 55, hired by the district a year ago, has a reputation as a consensus-builder and an urbane administrator with a voice as deep and melodious as an FM deejay's.