Edison Schools in Bibb County, Georgia

Authors

Amy P. Fouse

Abstract

In March of 1999, the Bibb County Board of Education made a controversial decision to hire private, for profit Edison Schools to run two of its low-performing elementary schools. Parents of nine Bibb County elementary schools were given the option to adopt this corporation and contract them to run their schools (Cass, 1999). Of the nine elementary schools, Riley Elementary and King Elementary chose the program. Investigation of The Edison Project was initiated by Superintendent Dr. Gene Buinger in 1998. Less than one year later, and after many heated debates, a five-year contract was signed to pay Edison “roughly $1 million each year” to operate the schools (Lord, 2002). However, only three years from its inception, the contract was terminated and the Bibb County Board of Education made a severe break with the company that had promised so much to them in the area of student achievement and test scores.

Author's Biographies

Amy Phelps Fouse teaches English at Central High School in Macon, Georgia. She received her B.S.Ed. from Valdosta State in 1997, her M.Ed. from Mercer University in 2000, and will complete her Ed.S. at Columbus State in 2003. She and her husband Jonathan are proud parents of a baby girl bom in January.

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Recommended Citation

Fouse, A. P. (2003). Edison Schools in Bibb County, Georgia. Perspectives In Learning, 4 (1). Retrieved from https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/pil/vol4/iss1/14