For Immediate Release: June 22, 2001

Final Vote on the Revocation of the School's Charter
Scheduled for Thursday, June 28th

San Francisco, CA – The charges against the Edison Charter Academy by the San Francisco School Board are completely without merit, according to The Fight to Save the Edison Charter in San Francisco, a report released today by the San Francisco-based Pacific Research Institute.

The board will hold a hearing on the charter school on Monday, June 25th, and vote on the revocation of the school's charter on Thursday, June 28th.

"The board cannot continue to ignore the parents, teachers, and students who support Edison or the evidence that clearly shows that the school has been a phenomenal success," said Diallo Dphrepaulezz, PRI education fellow and author of the report.

More than 80 percent of Edison parents, the majority of whom are Latino and African American, have signed petitions in support of the school, and 150 parents and students marched on the school board in protest earlier this month.

The board calls Edison's success "questionable," yet the PRI report shows that since taking over in 1998, the charter school, managed by Edison Schools, Inc., has shown dramatic improvements in test scores. From the 1999 to 2000 school year, Edison Charter Academy's Academic Performance Index (API) scores improved at a greater rate than all but two of San Francisco Unified School District's 73 elementary schools.

According to the report, on the Spring 2000 API results, African-American students improved their scores by 25 percent. That base score increase represents the highest average increase for any school in San Francisco with a significant African-American population. Latino students improved their scores by 15 percent over their 1999 results. That base score increase represents the 6th highest average increase out of the 28 schools in San Francisco with a significant Latino population.

"The results are clear," said Dphrepaulezz. "The board has gone out of its way to make a case against Edison, based on nothing more than ideological opposition to for-profit education."

###

The Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of the principles of individual freedom and personal responsibility. The Institute believes these principles are best encouraged through policies that emphasize a free economy, private initiative, and limited government. By focusing on public policy issues such as health care, welfare, education, and the environment, the Institute strives to foster a better understanding of the principles of a free society among leaders in government, academia, the media, and the business community.