At the same time charter schools was emerging as a policy, another idea to improve education was emerging: privatization.
In the early 1990s, “privatization” was a global trend to try to lower the cost of government and increase the quality of services with a goal of bringing the best of the private sector—efficient delivery service, quality control, customer service, and fiscal discipline—to deliver public services. Privatization also was also thought to attract new resources via investors who were willing to put their capital at risk in the hopes of generating a return.
From this global trend emerged a new type of private, for-profit organization to operate public schools that was dubbed an educational management organization, or “EMO.” One of the first of these was called the Edison Project. Launched by media entrepreneur Chris Whittle, the Edison Project was not a school system. Instead, it contracted with public district and charter school boards to operate schools. The idea became popular. In 2004-05, for example, Edison educated approximately 65,000 students in 103 schools across 18 states and the District of Columbia.[1]
The creation of other EMOs soon followed. Like Edison Schools, some EMOs were intended to operate multiple public schools across several states. Examples include Helicon Associates (founded 1993), National Heritage Academies (founded 1995), SABIS International (began operating charters in 1995), Charter Schools USA (founded 1997), and Imagine Schools (1999). Others were formed to operate a few specific schools.
EMOs were one reason why AFT President Al Shanker abandoned his support of charter schools. Per Shanker: “Vouchers, charter schools, for-profit management schemes are all quick fixes that won’t fix anything.”
EMOs have largely yielded their position in school management to their nonprofit counterparts, charter management organizations. Managing more than 100 schools each, National Heritage Academies and Charter Schools USA remain as exemplars of quality at scale.
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