Government of Edison, by Edison and for Edison

It looks like Edison Schools is proposing a new state oversight process designed to Edison's specifications and for its benefit. Hubris or just awareness of how much control the private sector really wields on public officials? That's more than a little chilling.

From Edison Schools' E2 Design Sketch:

New governance arrangements: Where we could not hold the charter directly, the workarounds we would deploy — a single board, composed of carefully recruited, sophisticated individuals loyal to Edison, that oversees all the schools in a state, the right to appoint one or even a majority of board members; the use of interlocking boards; the creation of nonprofit operating organizations; the recruitment of like-minded and supportive board members by Edison E2 fellows from their communities, and so on — would all greatly reduce the likelihood of board-Edison conflict and terminated relationships.