Having read Benno Schmidt's article on the Edison Project (September 1994), I have to say I am very disappointed. When I received a slick brochure announcing the project's inception a few years ago, I was impressed, particularly by the stated mission. This was to be no mere implementation of well-established educational improvements, but rather a true paradigm shift. Edison, the brochure explained, would propel us into an entirely new educational dimension. Thomas Edison, from whom the project took its name, did not settle for improving the design of the candle. Instead, he conceived a completely new approach to the problem of lighting. So it was to be with the Edison Project: Like the starship Enterprise, it would boldly go where no other educators had had the courage to go before.
We could use the kind of educational beacon that the Edison Project originally promised—but this isn't it. The school Schmidt described sounds as if it might be a good one. In fact, considering the state of many of the public schools I know, I could recommend that some parents enroll their kids there. But where is the paradigm shift? This seems to be a classic case of design by committee: something borrowed here, something else there. And if two innovations are good, 10 are bound to be better.
Schmidt states that it has always been Edison's hope that its schools serve as models and catalysts for change in public education. The innovations that his team has selected, however, were for the most part developed in the nation's public schools. What Edison has done, in effect, is to pick and choose approaches that represent the cream of the products of public education's laborious, painful evolution. Edison is now repackaging these concepts as its own master blend, then attempting to sell it to the same public sector that developed the ingredients.
The most attractive aspects of the Edison school are the result of its having greater resources than public schools. Although these design innovations may offer a wonderful experience to students lucky enough to attend the school, they represent nothing that isn't now available to public schools.
It behooves public school educators to seek direction from any source that sheds light on how best to educate our nation's youngsters. If a private, for-profit organization offers enlightenment, we should take advantage of it. The Edison Project, however, is merely producing better candles, not creating educational lightbulbs.
