Edison in Chester Upland

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

For those of you interested in Edison Schools - an article from NEA Today.

Dedicated Educators, Dead-End Management
Spending cuts and poor leadership by Edison Schools, Inc. compound the 
problems of a struggling Pennsylvania district.
NEA Today, February 2003
http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0302/news14.html

The first time your state legislators ooh and aah over the idea of 
for-profit school management, suggest a study tour of Pennsylvania's 
5,300-student Chester Upland district, where Edison Schools, Inc.--the 
nation's "leading private manager of public schools"--is shaping the best 
possible arguments against privatization.

NEA state and local affiliate officials charge that Edison, which has run 
nine of this high-poverty district's 10 public schools since 2000, is 
generating huge problems through spending cutbacks and poor educational 
leadership.

Quite simply, "we believe that during Edison's management of Chester 
Upland, the environment for teaching and learning has deteriorated, not 
improved," says Gloria Zoranski, president of the 481-member Chester Upland 
Education Association (CUEA).

Edison is struggling financially--its share price plunged from a high of 
$38 in 2001 to $1.55 at the beginning of December. And Thomas Persing, 
chair of a state-appointed control board overseeing Chester Upland, 
recently acknowledged in an education journal that Edison's "financial 
difficulties," along with Securities and Exchange Commission 
investigations, lawsuits by investors, and other adverse developments "have 
compounded Edison's problems and increased our concern about our 
relationship with Edison."

Yet the state of Pennsylvania, which directly controls Chester Upland and 
11 other struggling districts under its "Education Empowerment Act," hasn't 
paid attention. Last autumn, the Chester Upland control board doubled the 
value of its existing contract with Edison, to more than $4 million this 
school year, while a city/state control board handed Edison a five-year, 
$60 million contract to run 20 "low-performing" Philadelphia schools.

For all its troubles, Edison clearly has friends among privatizers in 
public office--it manages public schools in 24 states--and strong prospects 
under the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

ESEA, which permits private management of public schools that fail to make 
"adequate yearly progress" for five consecutive years, offers a "tremendous 
opportunity for Edison to leverage its experience and expertise on behalf 
of districts and states seeking solutions," Edison executive Jim Howland 
recently gushed to a business reporter.

Obstacles to Achievement

It will be mighty hard, however, to leverage anything from the Chester 
Upland experience. In November, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that 
student scores on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test 
declined in nine Chester Upland schools, "with the best performance in the 
district at Toby Farms Elementary, the one [school] not run by Edison."

Factors behind Chester Upland's sinking scores include:

    * A breakdown in student discipline. When Edison assumed control of 
Chester Upland, it saved money by closing the district's grade 7-12 
alternative school, leaving schools no option other than suspensions--and 
accepting students straight out of incarceration.

      Worse, the heads of school "leadership teams" must both teach class 
and handle the discipline problems of kids from tough urban neighborhoods.

      CUEA President Zoranksi, a business teacher at Chester High School, 
charges that "four schools are out of control" and that the district's 
security force is poorly staffed and undertrained--leading to unchecked 
gang activity and assaults on students and teachers.

    * Cutbacks in staff, programs, and supplies. CUEA has successfully 
fought teacher layoffs but has been unable stop Edison from firing 15 
technical support staffers and more than 100 paraeducators--or from gutting 
middle school career, industrial arts, and home economics programs.

      On top of these cutbacks, teachers report shortages of everything 
from copier paper to instructional materials, forcing them to improvise and 
spend more out of pocket. "This year, several schools opened their doors 
without textbooks," Zoranski points out, "and Columbus, our largest 
elementary, opened without any teaching materials."

      Edison's penny pinching extends even to teacher technology--the 
company has not fulfilled its promise to issue a laptop computer to every 
Chester Upland teacher--and to site-level purchasing. "Until last year, we 
had a business support manager in every school to order supplies," notes 
Zoranski. "Now those positions are gone. In September and October, teachers 
had no direction to get what they needed for class. Blame goes back and 
forth and nothing gets to the solution stage."

      Another reason supply decisions are in short supply: Edison gives 
Chester Upland principals bonuses that hinge on both student performance 
and how much is not spent out of a school's budget.

A Bright Spot: Teacher Dedication

Edison may not show respect for Chester Upland teachers, but the district's 
new superintendent does. "I firmly believe that quality staff is still 
present today in our district," Dr. Dexter Davis declared in his 2002-03 
school opening address. "It will be my responsibility to provide the 
administrators and teachers with the support and materials to get the job 
done."

"Dr. Davis gives it his best shot, and he's been willing to work with the 
Association," notes Zoranksi. "The minute he became superintendent, he said 
he wanted to communicate with us and never wanted to stop."

The superintendent knows dedication when he sees it. In the face of 
indiscipline and the "hardships of where these children come from," an 
amazing number of Chester Upland teachers "still come to work each day and 
spend their own money on the kids," stresses the CUEA president. "They're 
highly motivated, even though it's a tough place to work.

"Our teachers put up with verbal abuse from students and lack of support 
from Edison administrators and still manage to teach, to get students to 
learn," Zoranksi concludes. "They're excited about presenting new lessons 
and they love passing knowledge on to students."

--Dave Winans

CUEA President Gloria Zoranski can be contacted at Glo6@hotmail.com.

George Sheridan