Before the San Francisco School Board granted the Charter, Edison Elementary School was one of the most notable failures in the District. For years the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) had failed to deliver on its obligation to provide a competitive education to students at then Edison Elementary School. Student test scores were among the worst in the state. Former principal Ken Romines recalls “[j]ust coming to school was dangerous. Violence was so commonplace, students expected to get hurt or hurt others, and they said so.”

As a result, in June 1998 under the state’s charter school law, the San Francisco Board of Education (the “school board” or the “board”) granted the charter to New York-based Edison Schools, Inc., formerly Edison LP (“Edison”), effectively turning over management of then Edison Elementary School (coincidentally of the same name). When Edison took over, the school was renamed Edison Charter Academy (the “Edison School”). Although it is privately managed, Edison Charter Academy is a public school. Ironically, Edison’s successes now threaten the core of the public system that created the failure in the first place.

Read Briefing