The city school board voted last night against giving Edison Schools Inc., a for-profit company, control of any public middle schools in the fall.

In stinging comments to Edison officials, board members accused the company of fostering an atmosphere of competition with the city schools rather than one of cooperation.

Board member Kenneth A. Jones accused Edison of recruiting the best students from around the city to the three elementary schools it runs and then trying to send back the "difficult and expensive" students to other schools in the system.

"There has been a major public relations effort to castigate this system, and I think you ought to stop it," said J. Tyson Tildon, another board member.

Tensions between the company and board have been smoldering since the State Board of Education voted two years ago to take three of the lowest-performing elementaries out of the city's control and put them under Edison's management.

Several months ago, Edison had proposed taking over one or two city middle schools or opening a new one in the fall.

Parents of children at the three Edison elementary schools - Gilmor, Montebello and Furman L. Templeton - wanted their children to be able to continue in an Edison-run middle school. Last year, they were able to get permission to add a sixth grade to the three schools, but there is no space to add seventh and eighth grades.

Parents pointed to recent test scores showing that the three Edison schools had improved, particularly Montebello. And some parents threatened to pull their children out of the system if their only option was to send them to the middle schools they would normally attend.

In an attempt to dampen those concerns, schools chief Carmen V. Russo said the system would channel the children from Edison schools to two middle schools - Hamilton and Booker T. Washington - and beef up their programs.

Before the vote, Edison's senior vice president of development, Richard O'Neill, told the members: "Where is the board's courage when it comes to responding to the near unanimous request of hundreds of parents and children? How much courage does it take to recognize success and let it continue?"

After the brief comments, Tildon responded, saying, "I am insulted, Mr. O'Neill."

Several board members were more conciliatory, saying they had voted against the proposal because they thought there needed to be more planning.

Edison official Cynthia Robbins said later that the company is running middle schools around the country and that more planning wasn't necessary.