W. Covina Schools May Hire Private Manager

The West Covina school system may become the first district in Los Angeles County to let the Edison Project, a private, commercial company, administer some of its campuses.

The Edison venture, headed by a former media magnate and a past president of Yale University, has drawn enthusiasm from school board members and the superintendent of the 8,700-student district.

A final decision is months away. But West Covina Unified School District board President Mike Spence believes hiring the company to run one or two now-closed campuses “would be a win-win situation,” and would “give parents more choice and accountability and raise standards.”

West Covina would be an important foothold for Edison, which runs 25 schools across the United States but operates only one California school, in Chula Vista. That is dramatically less than the goal of operating 1,000 public schools that Edison’s founder, media entrepreneur Christopher Whittle, set when he formed it in 1991.

Educators have praised the program’s curriculum but the company has yet to turn a profit despite investing more than $100 million.

Kathy Hamel, an Edison vice president who directs the company’s Western development, said Edison is also discussing partnerships with several other California school districts but declined to specify the number of districts or their location.

The company usually signs five-year contracts with school districts to operate campuses with the same level of public funding. It plans to open 20 more schools nationwide in the next school year.

In West Covina, the district is planning to take advantage of additional state funding available to cut elementary-grade class sizes. To reduce class size, the district needs extra classroom space, which it would gain by opening two closed campuses. Contracting with Edison could cut start-up costs because Edison typically pays for up to 80% of the capital costs to open a new school.

School board President Spence said the district is likely to reopen two vacant school sites to house at least 1,000 kindergarten through eighth-grade students in the next school year. The schools would be “charter schools,” public schools run autonomously with state approval; students would be chosen through a lottery.

Although Edison would administer the schools and run the instructional program, it would probably contract with the school district to provide services such as meals and custodial work.

The district’s cost of reopening the two closed campuses could be as much as $2 million, to be paid for by reserve funds, Spence said.

Supt. Steven L. Fish said West Covina will need to either reopen campuses or add portable classrooms to schools, both for class-size reduction and because enrollment is expected to grow to 9,000 students by the end of this school year.

Edison presents an attractive option, Fish said. Not only would it finance start-up costs, but it would “deal with administering the school site and provide me with the results,” he said.

Whittle founded the Edison project with much fanfare. His projects have included Channel One, which broadcasts educational television programs--with commercials--to schools across the country.

Edison’s chief executive officer is Benno C. Schmidt Jr., the flamboyant former president of Yale University who had also been the dean of Columbia University’s law school.

Although Edison has yet to turn a profit, the company says its schools are profitable at each site--if corporate and start-up costs are not counted.

The company has not opened many schools in California because the state’s relatively low per-pupil spending makes it more difficult for Edison to make a profit here than in other states. Edison Vice President Hamel said that in order to start its school in Chula Vista, the company had to raise $1.5 million in private donations, a technique it had not used in other states.

In West Covina, Fish and school board members said that in addition to helping them manage enrollment growth, they believe Edison’s educational program might also improve student performance.

Students in Edison schools have a longer school day and longer school year than students in typical schools.

Hamel told the school board at its meeting Tuesday that its students spend more time on “core” subjects like reading and math and are required to study Spanish beginning in kindergarten.

Teachers in Edison schools receive up to 30 days of training a year, compared with the U.S. average of two to five days, Hamel said.

Test scores for students in several Edison schools have improved since the company took over management of the campuses.

But there have been glitches as well. In Boston, Edison failed to offer a ninth-grade class as promised, forcing eighth-graders who had expected to continue in the program to find new schools.

One of the first Edison elementary schools, in Sherman, Texas, has produced mixed results, according to Phillip Garrett, Sherman’s assistant superintendent for instruction. Overall student test scores have dropped at the Edison school, while scores in other district schools have climbed in the two school years since Edison arrived.

Edison initially failed to hire enough English as a second language teachers and at times the school “seemed to be managed by remote control from New York,” Garrett said.

Parent satisfaction at the Edison school, however, has remained higher than at other schools, according to district surveys, Garrett said.

The West Covina school board will hold a hearing on the Edison Project’s proposal for the district Oct. 7. According to board President Spence, a decision on whether to contract with the company will be made in November or December.