FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, April 16, 2001

Contact:  Gaynor McCown  (212) 419-1733

• Edison Schools Signs 7 Summer School Contracts

• 34 Schools Will Offer “Edison Extra” in 8 Midwest Districts

• 8,000 to 10,000 Students Expected to Enroll this Summer

• Company Raises Current Year Revenues Estimates due to New Service

Company revenue for the new service is estimated to be at least $7,000,000 for its FY01 year, depending upon final enrollment numbers which will be available this June. Accordingly, Edison announced that it is raising its FY01 revenue estimates from $370,000,000 to $377,000,000, the second increase in revenue estimates this year.

Edison also announced that it plans a major expansion of this service to other regions of the country in the year beginning this July 1. The company expects significant gains in summer school revenues for its FY02 year.

The program will provide a rich and challenging curriculum – that is in keeping with state and local standards – similar to what Edison utilizes in its schools around the country. Edison Extra will be activity-heavy, project-based and tailored to address local interests and cultures. It will also offer an opportunity for students to enhance their technology skills while engaging in skill-based lessons that encourage active listening and learning.

Chris Cerf, Chief Operating Officer, who has overseen the project’s development, said: “We are pleased to offer Edison Extra, a summer school program with a strong educational focus. Summer school programs help cut down on summer forgetting. This is an opportunity for us to expand the level of programming students are offered throughout the traditional school year. It also provides an important new service by the company that we plan to aggressively expand in coming years.”
All of the new contracts are with districts that are new to the Edison family, i.e. they do not currently have Edison Schools within them. “Going forward, we will be offering Edison Extra to both existing Edison clients and to districts that do not have an existing relationship with us,” said Cerf.

Edison Schools currently manages 113 public schools with a total enrollment of approximately 57,000 students. Through contracts with local school districts and public charter school boards, Edison assumes educational and operational responsibility for individual schools in return for per-pupil funding that is generally comparable to that spent on other public schools in the area. Over the course of three years of intensive research, Edison’s team of leading educators and scholars developed an innovative, research-based curriculum and school design. Edison opened its first four schools in August 1995, and has grown rapidly in every subsequent year.

Except for the historical information contained in this announcement, the matters discussed are forward looking statements (as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks detailed from time to time in Edison’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, Edison calls to the reader’s attention the risk factors described in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q dated February 14, 2001 under the heading Additional Risk Factors That May Affect Future Results. Any such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date such statements are made, and Edison undertakes no obligations to publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements or otherwise update or supplement this announcement or risk factors contained herein.