TUPELO, Miss. (AP) — A New York investment firm has bought and plans to merge a Mississippi-based education consulting firm and one based in New York.
JBHM Education Group of Jackson and Editure Professional Development Inc. of New York were bought last week by Weld North Holdings LLC, The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (http://bit.ly/PDrMfl) reported.
Former Tupelo Public Schools superintendent Mike Walters founded JBHM Education Group by to help low-performing schools improve.
Walters says the new organization will support schools as they move to Common Core State Standards, a curriculum adopted by 46 states including Mississippi.
“The standards for kids will be high,” Walters said. “By raising the bar, you will have a significant number of districts and schools not meeting that standard, and they will not have the capacity to meet the standard, so you have to have external support to do that.”
It will be led by Weld North Managing Director Justin Serrano, who has nearly 20 years in the education business.
JBME Education works with schools in 10 states.
“What we always wanted to do in our company is to move it to a nationwide brand,” Walters said. “We wanted to be in schools where we could help kids everywhere.”
Walters said he will remain with the new company as executive vice chairman at least until December 2013, when his contract ends. His role will be reassessed then, he said.
JBHM’s office in Jackson will remain open.
