CEDU clarification

Thank you for your coverage of the tragic closing and Chapter 7 filing of The Brown Schools in your April 6 edition. However, your story contained a number of factual errors, which need to be corrected for the record by your publication.

Your news story gives an erroneous impression to your readers on many key issues regarding ownership of the schools and the decision making surrounding the bankruptcy filing, and confuses operations with investment. Rather than reply to each specific statement, we have provided an overall correction of several facts below. Please make, as quickly as possible, the following factual corrections in the next edition of your publication:

The decision to close the CEDU facilities and file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection was made and announced by The Brown Schools' board of directors in order to protect the safety of the students at the schools.

Neither McCown De Leeuw & Co. (MDC), nor any of its employees, were part of the decision by the Board; and in fact MDC did not have any employees on the board of The Brown Schools at the time of the filing. Additionally, please note that David De Leeuw has not been active with MDC for several years, and was never involved with The Brown Schools.

The CEDU facilities were owned by The Brown Schools. CEDU was not, and has never been, owned directly by MDC. Further, MDC has never been responsible for the day-to-day management of The Brown Schools or any of its subsidiaries, and no one serving in the day-to-day management of the company did so while an employee of MDC.

As an investor in and a major creditor of The Brown Schools, MDC did everything in its power to preserve the operations of the schools, including unsuccessful attempts to facilitate debtor-in-possession financing with Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, the company's senior lender. In fact, over the past several years, MDC has repeatedly provided millions of dollars to help maintain the programs offered at the schools, without receiving payments in return. With the bankruptcy, MDC is left being owed over $20 million by The Brown Schools.

SAM SINGER

San Francisco, Calif.