EdisonLearning

The company was founded in 1992 as the Edison Project, largely the brainchild of Chris Whittle. Other people involved were Tom Ingram (campaign manager and chief of staff to Lamar Alexander, who was a former Governor of Tennessee and United States Secretary of Education 1991–1993), Benno C. Schmidt, Jr., Chester E. Finn, Jr. (assistant secretary of education to former presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush, and others. It was founded around the idea of making money from school vouchers.

In 2002, the U.S. company approached the UK government and Essex Local Education Authority to develop a partnership. EdisonLearning began operations as a UK subsidiary in 2003 which led to some school improvements until 2020 when it ceased trading in the UK. The UK business contributed heavily to the parent company's intellectual property and was a base for global operations and educational projects in China and the UAE.

Criticism

Edison's educational and financial performance has been criticized. Some client districts reported that schools run by Edison cost them more money, not less as the company had promised. Edison schools' academic improvement failed to live up to the company's promises in some areas.

A July 2002 New York Times analysis used Edison's own methodology for calculating school success to find that the troubled Cleveland, Ohio, school system did better than Edison's schools.

In 2019, the Chicago school district shut down all four of its Edison-run schools. “In this case, the district has acted on a provider who failed to provide a quality education for our children,” superintendent Janice Jackson told the school board.

Supporters of privatized education have criticized Whittle for entering contracts with public school districts rather than setting up completely private schools.

Edison's work with schools in the UK was more successful and Edison was a trusted school improvement partner for nearly 20 years.