You can fuhgedaboudit. That was the unmistakable message handed to school officials this spring by thousands of New York City parents, who delivered a blistering vote against plans to hand over their public schools to a for-profit management company.

The vote centered on a plan to convert five city schools into charter schools run by the Edison Schools Inc., which currently manages 113 schools across the nation. Edison would only clinch a charter at city schools where more than half of all parents approved the plan. The company worked to tip the vote by launching a glossy marketing campaign touting its successes in other schools--a record that has come under fire in recent months by critics who charge that Edison schools often underperform their traditional public school counterparts.

In the end, it wasn’t even a close call. More than 80 percent of the nearly 2,300 New York City parents who cast ballots in late March voted against privatization. And decisive anti-Edison majorities were evident in every building.

Supporters of the privatization plan billed it as a way to turn around low-performing schools. This, despite the fact that the AFT-affiliated United Federation of Teachers had worked closely with school administrators to institute important new initiatives, such as an extended-time school program. These efforts seem to be paying dividends: For example, students in the five schools were surpassing citywide improvement rates in such key areas as the number of students reading at or above grade level. Behind the vote against Edison, UFT president Randi Weingarten observes, was a clear indication that parents want to stay the course on sensible school reform. "Some of these schools have already begun to show improvement," she says. "Others are still trying to start that turnaround, and we’ve got to recommit ourselves to seeing that process through."

American Federation of Teachers, AFL•CIO - 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW - Washington, DC 20001