Edison, like its founder, has undergone an amazing shrinking act. Originally conceived as a national chain of private schools educating 2 million students by 2010, the project has taken on a more modest shape. By fall 1995, it hopes to take over five to 15 public schools under an “academy” system that relies on team-teaching small groups that stay together for several years, as well as individual rates of learning, big doses of high technology and a longer school day and academic year.
So far, Edison has generated a lot of interest–but only one sure taker, a new elementary school in Mt. Clemens, Mich. But even some fans won’t bite. Charleston County, S.C., with 46,000 kids, backed out of a deal last summer. “They wanted us to sign a nonbinding letter of intent to go to their backers and say, ‘See, we have a potential customer here’,” says Norman Mullins, an associate superintendent. “We had concerns about the financing–could they sustain it for three to five years?”
Insiders worry about money, too. “We’ll only go forward if we get what we need to become fully operational,” says Dominique Browning, a member of Edison’s original team and a former NEWSWEEK editor. The company has already run through $40 million in R&D, market studies, travel expenses and, by all accounts, more than generous salaries. Now it needs to raise an even greater sum in start-up capital. “Who in his right mind is going to put $50 million into a company that’s already spent $40 million and can’t show anything for it?” says a Wall Street source close to the company. Maybe Edison’s backers, Philips Electronics and Associated Newspaper Holdings. Philips, which recently wrote off most of its $178 million investment in the now defunct Whittle Communications, faxed a tight-lipped statement that it “fully supports the Edison Project.” Associated is exploring “various options” for further funding.
Edison’s success may hang on its ability to oust its founder. The collapse of Whittle Communications “was horrible for us and for Chris - and has distracted attention from what the Edison Project has accomplished,” says Browning. Privately, some insiders say Whittle has to go. He takes a different view: “It’s like rodeo riding–you get thrown off, you get back on. It never crossed my mind I wouldn’t just saddle back up again.” But Edison investors may already be looking for a new cowboy. Philips and Associated, says a source close to the company, have asked Whittle to step down as chairman. (Whittle couldn’t be reached for comment.) Whether he goes or stays, Whittle may have trouble roping believers for years to come.
