Parents call in national firms to launch new schools

By D. Aileen Dodd

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Lagging test scores. Crowded classrooms. Inattentive school boards. Aloof superintendents.

Parents fed up with some Georgia school districts are partnering with national education management chains to open public schools of their own.

The management firms enable parents to open charter schools with national resources.

The number of Georgia schools run by community groups and education management firms is expected grow by 50 percent next fall as six new campuses prepare to open using government money to privatize the daily functions of public schools.

The firms, which charge a management fee, handle the heavy lifting of opening campuses -- sometimes constructing classrooms, developing the curriculum, hiring and training staff and overseeing operations. A few even offer stock options to teachers.

Nationally, for-profit education management organizations, or EMOs, oversee more than 500 charter schools, about 10 percent of the charter school population. Their nonprofit cousins in education management have a larger share of the business, overseeing  11.5 percent of charters. Public education is estimated  to be a more than $554 billion industry, according to U.S. Department of Education school funding projections.

Critics argue that public schools should not become corporate profit centers.

"There are some EMOs that run a lot of great schools and there are others that don't do as well," said Nelson Smith, executive director of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. "Parents should be asking if the curriculum is first rate and what kind of results have they gotten with kids like mine. It's all about student achievement."

Jim Hull, senior policy analyst for the Center for Public Education, says that the firms quickly learn they can’t stretch dollars any farther than traditional public schools or push low-performing students to improve  any faster. In fact, some find they need additional funding to serve the populations of students charters tend to attract -- minority, special needs and poor, Hull said.

Still, parent David Shaginaw of College Park says partnering with a management company offered him the best solution.

“We were sweating kindergarten; the schools in our area don’t do so hot,” said Shaginaw, petitioner for the Main Street Academy, who put a "for sale" sign on his lawn to avoid sending his daughters to their neighborhood school. “We were going to make a run for it and move to a decent district, but we decided that we had to do something about the schools in our neighborhood. Our kids deserve quality schools.”

So the Shaginaws appealed to neighbors on an East Point play group Web site.  Many of those who responded were also trying to decide between relocating or private school. The neighbors formed an interest group to research the idea for a charter school and held community forums that drew hundreds. They established a nonprofit and cultivated relationships with two national education management firms.

On Wednesday, Main Street was recommended for approval by the state Board of Education's Charter School Committee. If approved by the state board, Main Street will open in the fall with extended days and school uniforms for students. It will use temporary classroom space  in two College Park church buildings. More than 620 students have expressed interested in attending.

Main Street’s board is currently contracting with EdisonLearning, the nation's largest nonprofit education management provider. The firm serves 350,000 students in 25 states.

Edison is a pioneer in education management that emerged in the early 1990s. The firm hired an army of experts in K-12 education, assessment and technology, and took charge of new charters and failing public schools using its brand of research-based strategies to push students to exceed.

Its work met with mixed reviews. Several schools in Baltimore and Pennsylvania reported gains in student achievement, but some schools in other states dropped Edison contracts because student performance did not live up to expectations.

Charles Drew Charter in East Lake, one of Edison's partner schools, opened with Edison overseeing its entire management and curriculum. Now the provider only oversees back office duties, as staff took over more responsibilities after training with the firm.

Education management firms sometimes solicit parents, gauging community dissatisfaction with local schools at chambers of commerce offices and neighborhood home owner association meetings. Seven management providers, including some of the nation's largest, are affiliated with Georgia schools. “I think this is a ripe market for them,” said Kelly Cadman, director of education and training for the Georgia Charter Schools Association.

This week, the Georgia Charter Schools Association is hosting a three-day state conference to help parents and educators learn more about the operating successful charter schools.  The conference, which began Wednesday at Marietta Hilton Hotel & Conference Center,  is being co-sponsored by education management firms.

Currently, there are 12 Georgia charter schools managed by national for-profit or nonprofit management firms.

Mosaica Education, in business for 13 years, moved its headquarters to Atlanta six years ago . It oversees Atlanta Preparatory Academy and was tapped to manage  Heron Bay Academy in Locust Grove and the Math and Science Preparatory Academy in South Fulton.

On Wednesday, however, the firm's plans hit a roadblock. Staff recommended that the South Fulton charter not be approved because it appeared that the effort behind the charter was driven by Mosaica, not parents.  However, impassioned parents told the committee that they want the school. The state board will decide next month on the charter.

“We have dysfunctional schools,” parent Malissie Diop said. “We pay our tax dollars. What we are offered is unacceptable. For our community, it is paramount to have a free option that meets our standards.”