In the introduction to his book Crash Course, Chris Whittle calls himself "a renovation man." He's done a lot of renovating, too: "a Depression-era two-room log cabin," a "rambling apartment in one of New York's oldest apartment buildings." Now, it seems, he has moved on to mansions. The Financial Times reports that Whittle, who started Edison Schools (which enroll lots of low-income kids), is building Nations Academy--a network of 60 multi-million dollar private schools that will cater to mobile, international elites. If an investment banker in London needs to move the family to Hong Kong, no worries. The kids can simply transfer between cities from one Nations school to the next, without having to adjust to a new system or curriculum (they can even keep the same polo handicap!). A man instituting international education standards. A man after Gadfly's heart.
"Global network of schools planned," by Jon Boone, Financial Times, June 23, 2007