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The
Edison Project:
A View From
Inside
Blanche Fraser
The Edison Project is a public school-private enterprise partnership for the delivery of instructional services. The project, launched in 1991 by Chris Whittle, president of Whittle Communications, is headed by former Yale University president Benno Schmidt and implemented by a team of experienced and respected educators, including former Detroit Schools Superintendent Deborah McGriff. In August 1994, the Mount Clemens Community Schools became the first district in the nation to sign a contract with the Edison Project to run a K-5 elementary public school of choice.
The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy opened its doors to 490 Mount Clemens elementary students in August 1995. The Edison Project's corporate mission is to offer a worldclass education to all students at an affordable price per pupil (the district's 'I expenditure less average per-pupil administrative overhead). Its goal is to establish a network of Edison schools throughout the nation by the year 2000. Four elementary schools are in operation today. They will be joined next year by 10 to 12 additional elementary and middle schools in Michigan, Texas, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Florida.
Michigan school districts can contract with private vendors for the delivery of instructional services. One does not have to use a "charter school" approach to provide this educational opportunity in a school district. Public/private partnerships that create public schools of choice in local school districts are a new phenomena. While not the sole solution for the challenges facing public schools, such partnerships will be part of the future of public education.
More than two years ago, the Edison Project invited the Mount Clemens Community Schools to consider their design because Mount Clemens is a district known for its commitment to staff development, innovative instructional practices, and technology.
We have become a leader in education in Michigan with our three state exemplary schools, our fully NCA accredited kindergarten through 12th grade programs, and our high-tech infrastructure.
The staff of the Mount Clemens Community Schools is responsive to the need to explore new organizational approaches to the delivery of instruction that include a flexible use of time and computing power for all. The Edison Project establishes schools in districts and communities where a high likelihood for their success exists. Mount Clemens' size, diversity, board/staff/community relationships, and demonstrated commitment to educational innovation met the Edison criteria.
Mount Clemens' motivation to partner with the Edison Project was not driven by a belief that Edison was some sort of "magic cure." We are not trying to "fix" anything-our teachers, our students, our curriculum, or the administration of our school buildings. Rather, the Edison design encompasses the instructional and organizational elements we have been exploring, working with, and/or wishing for, including integrated instruction, team teaching, and an extended school day and year.
What no district has yet been able to do because of budget limitations, contractual issues, and local political realities is to pull all of these elements together in one place. The Edison Project afforded us this opportunity and has placed a national model of the best research-based educational practices in our own "backyard."
Although the NEA/MEA has traditionally opposed privatization, an exception was negotiated in Mount Clemens because we involved our teachers and their union before a decision to proceed was reached. We actively sought our teachers' reactions, input, and support before the action of the board to contract with the Edison Project. The union agreed to the flexibility Edison needed; Edison provided the contractual assurances the union needed to provide its members.
Continuing teacher support has resulted in plans to expand the Edison Project to Mount Clemens Middle School next fall.
While the King Academy is one of our three elementary schools, the middle school will be a "school within a school."
With the King Academy in operation, Edison is responsible for implementing its educational program and technology plans. It is accountable to the Mount Clemens Board of Education. The district may terminate its five-year contract with Edison at any time.
Expectations are high. The Mount Clemens school district has embarked on a new frontier. For every group wanting public/private partnerships to succeed there is a group hoping they will fail. In accepting this challenge, we have placed ourselves under both a magnifying glass and a microscope. By the former, there is a tendency for exaggeration. By the latter, overzealous scrutiny overstates problems.
Inquiries regarding student enrollment and teaching position availability in our Edison project schools confirm that there is a strong appeal to parents and educators for this kind of school.
The Mount Clemens schools believe that the Edison Project is a concept whose time has come. We are proud to offer this option to students, parents, and staff in Mount Clemens.