Takeover Team Picked in Phila.

By Catherine Gewertz

The appointed panel in charge of the Philadelphia public schools announced plans last week to hire 12 companies and nonprofit groups to offer advice on how to turn around the beleaguered district. But the move raised a host of questions and fueled fears that private companies would gain too much control of the country's seventh-largest school system.

A lightning rod for complaints was the decision by the School Reform Commission, which has been running the district since a December state takeover, to tap Edison Schools Inc., as its key adviser on a broad range of issues. Edison, the nation's largest for-profit manager of public schools, will give advice on matters ranging from crafting a management plan to enhancing teacher recruitment.

Although the reform commission whittled the New York City company's role significantly from what Pennsylvania's governor had advocated—that it run the entire district—the choice of Edison still prompted loud boos and chants of "No Edison!" from the audience assembled for the March 26 announcement. Opposition to the company has been intense from community members, who criticize Edison's for-profit status and what they see as its uneven...