Schools Chancellor Harold Levy’s plan to let Edison Schools Inc. take over five of the city’s worst schools has gotten off to a rocky start.
Parents whose kids attend the schools will ultimately decide what happens in five contentious elections to be held in March.
The five schools have performed so badly for so many years that they could be closed down for educational neglect, said Levy, who awarded Edison the opportunity to run them.
“It would be hard to imagine Edison doing a worse job” than current administrators, Levy said of Edison, which currently runs 113 schools and is the nation’s largest for-profit education management firm.
But some parents are skeptical about turning their kids’ schools over to Edison.
“Edison hasn’t done well in other states. The company doesn’t have a good record,” said Jorge Lajas, whose daughter is in the second grade at PS 161 in Harlem.
Parental fears are being fanned by a small coalition of liberal activists, including locally elected school-board members and a teachers-union faction that is philosophically opposed to privatizing school management.
Levy, while stressing that Edison wasn’t picked “on a lark” and “presents a viable alternative,” notes that the final decision is in the hands of the parents.
And he said “it’s up to Edison to make the case with parents, not the Board of Education to make the case for them.
“The Board of Education has to make absolutely certain to parents there is a fair process.”
It’s far from certain that Edison will persuade a majority of voting parents at the five schools for the right to convert them into independent charters.
The schools are PS 161 in Harlem, PS 88 in The Bronx, and IS 320, IS 246 and IS 111 in Brooklyn.
Levy’s office had denied Edison officials access to the schools until guidelines were worked out, a process that dragged on for weeks. The chancellor said the delays in putting out information angered parents and hurt Edison.
“This has never been done before. It takes awhile to nail things down,” Levy said.
“Right now there’s a lot of misinformation out there. Now Edison can put their position out there.”
Some parents were unaware that they could serve on a charter-school board that would review Edison’s performance, as provided under state law.
At PS 161 at Amsterdam Avenue and 133rd Street, many parents expressed opposition to Edison – even before meeting with company officials. Opponents had already pointed out warts in the firm’s record elsewhere, without mentioning their successes.
Test results show that 80 percent of PS 161’s students do not read at grade level, and 81 percent do not meet math standards. Most of the students are Hispanic, and nearly half are in bilingual classes to learn English.
“They’re trying to bribe us with computers. The kids are not for sale,” said Bella Cloutier, as she dropped her two kids off at the school last Friday.
But other parents back Edison.
“Things might get better. It can’t get worse,” said Norma Hill, whose daughter, Shiquita, is in the fourth grade at PS 161.
Teachers are nervous about their jobs.
“We’re fearful of change. We’ve tried very hard to turn this school around,” said Laurel Butler, the United Federation of Teachers representative at PS 161.
But she said the union has guaranteed teachers jobs – at PS 161 or another school. At the other four schools, the debate over Edison hasn’t been as heated as it has been in Harlem – at least not yet.
At IS 111 in Bushwick, Brooklyn, 77 percent of the students are below grade level in reading, and 89 are below grade level in math.
Parent Association president Annette Ruiz said she has an open mind. “I want to hear them out. Things have improved but they could be better,” she said.
Edison plans to provide computers to all students and families, and offer solid math, reading, bilingual and special-education programs, as well as art classes.
They also have vowed to work closely with the teachers union in handling assignments – as it has done elsewhere.
Levy’s office was impressed with Edison’s performance elsewhere, and it was the only firm awarded the option.
“Site visits demonstrated successful practices and substantial parental involvement,” the chancellor said.
Edison – headed by former Yale president Benno Schmidt and the Rev. Floyd Flake, the pastor and former congressman from Queens – is going all out to win over the parents.
It has hired community advocates sympathetic to its cause, and is counting on political leaders to endorse its effort.
“About a dozen people are working with the parents and school staffs. And Rev. Flake will be on the streets next week,” said Edison vice president Marshall Mitchell.
“We’re all working to get back on track.”
Harlem state Sen. David Patterson backs the project, and has even permitted one his top staffers, Michael Jones Bay, to work on Edison’s campaign.
“I want to give Edison a level playing field,” said Patterson, adding that he has faith in Flake, whom he’s known for 15 years.
“The chancellor and the UFT are willling to give this a chance. Let’s try and see if it works.”
“The alternative is to shut the school down and overcrowd other schools,” he said of PS 161, which is in his district.
Edison also has tapped Manhattan parent activist Leo Stevens – a school-choice proponent – to assist in the campaign.
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CHARTER CANDIDATES: These are the failing schools that have been proposed as Edison charters
(School // Grades // Enrollment // Below standard — Reading // Below Standard — Math // Learning English)
* PS 161, Harlem // Pre-K-to-6 // 871 // 80% // 81 % // 49%
* PS 66, Crotona, Bronx // Pre-K-to-8 // 1,168 // 85 % // 89% // 20%
* JHS 246, Flatbush, Brooklyn // 6-to-8 // 1,035 // 86% // 92% // 13%
* JHS 320, Wingate, Brooklyn // 6-to-8 // 905 // 87% // 96% // 10%
* JHS 111, Bushwick, Brooklyn // 5-to-8 // 965 students // 77% // 89% // 24%
Source: NYC Board of Education