School Districts Weigh Private Operator’s Bid

School administrators in two San Gabriel Valley cities are exploring whether to allow a private company to run three local schools.

The Edison Project, a New York-based brainchild of media entrepreneur Chris Whittle, is courting school boards in Temple City and Monrovia to join a system already established in a dozen other schools across the country.

If it is hired by either district, the Edison Project would make its first dent in a state it has tried to penetrate for several years.

Administrators in both school districts said neither is close to making a decision about hiring the commercial enterprise.

In his sales pitch at a Temple City school board meeting last week, Whittle promised that hiring his company to run Longden and Oak Avenue elementary schools will lead to an increase in test scores, math skills, reading comprehension and computer literacy.

Whittle said that his company invests $1.5 million in each school before the start of the school year, placing a computer in each student’s home and providing every teacher with a laptop.

A typical school day is lengthened from six hours to eight hours and students would find themselves in school for an extra six weeks.

Daily costs are financed through the funds state and federal agencies allocate a school per student.

The mostly hostile crowd at the standing-room-only Temple City school board meeting questioned Whittle, calling the company’s promise to stretch state and federal dollars “too good to be true.”

“And if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said parent Katherine Steffans Steffans.

The Edison Project has not yet made a profit, and it may be several more years before the company begins to see a return on its investment, Whittle said.

In the past, the Edison Project has reportedly shied away from districts that could not provide close to $5,500 per student. That would appear to be an obstacle in California, where the state provides $4,985 a year per student.