Limitations of the Market Model
The first four Edison schools opened with great promise in 1995 and five years later the company could claim extraordinary growth and boast of never having lost a contract. The company was very successful in improving under achieving schools and students, while increasing the efficiency of the schools overall.
The first four Edison schools opened with great promise in 1995 and five years later the company could claim extraordinary growth and boast of never having lost a contract. The company was very successful in improving under achieving schools and students, while increasing the efficiency of the schools overall.
Recently, however, the company's stock had fallen from $36 a share in February 2001 to $1 in May of 2002. Poor marketing strategies and political deals gone badly have hurt the company as well. The biggest problem Edison faces is that the goals of public education do not fit neatly into the capitalistic market model. The one-design-fits-all model cannot be applied to schools at multiple sites as it can to a chain of bookstores.
The article was written by Heidi Steffens and Peter W. Cookson Jr. Dr. Cookson is the president of TC Innovations at Teachers College, Columbia University.
The article, entitled "Limitations of the Market Model" appeared in the August 7th edition of Education Week.
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Published Sunday, Sep. 15, 2002