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Wednesday, May 2, 2007
EMOs Bullish On Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My colleague Diane Stepp recently reported that a few national education companies are eyeing Georgia as a potential market for new business.
Among the education management organizations (known as EMOs) looking to make inroads here: Imagine Schools, which is based in Virginia, and Edison Schools from New York. Both companies already operate some charter school campuses in the Atlanta area, but may expand their reach.
Imagine, for example, manages two public charter schools in Cobb County and is approved to open two more this summer. According to Diane’s story, company officials want to run campuses in Carroll, Cherokee, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett and Paulding counties, too.
Private firms that specialize in managing public schools have been around for a while now, but the verdict still is out on whether they can run elementary, middle or high schools more efficiently and effectively than school systems.
Ultimately, I think the question parents, educators and policymakers need to ask themselves is: Is there any danger in letting the public education of K-12 students become the responsibility of an outside contractor?
