BATTLE CREEK —Educational choice and competition are slated for big boosts in the fall of 1998.

Educational Development Cor-poration, a Grand Rapids-based, for-profit school management company, is planning to open a new K-5 charter school enrolling as many as 200 students. Another company based in Augusta hopes to attract about 55 students to the charter school it plans to open in the Lakeview School District. And a group
composed of parents interested in new options is exploring the feasibility of opening yet another charter elementary school in the Battle Creek area.

Meanwhile, the Battle Creek Public School District, according to an October 19 story in the Battle Creek Enquirer, is looking into the possibility of contracting with the for-profit, New York City-based Edison Project to run two of its existing elementary schools. If the plan materializes, Edison will put its model in place in 1998 for about 500 students.