The charter school controversy got its third day of play in the New York Times today, this time by way of an op-ed from the Rev. Floyd Flake. Unfortunately, he left out a significant detail about which readers should have been told.
Flake presented a spirited defense and defended the charter school system against recent revelations of poor student performance. His argument considered charter schools from a detached, third-person perspective — “they” have to negotiate contracts and “they” are often a valuable option for families. Flake, however, should have been saying “we.”
The Times identified Flake as “a former Democratic member of Congress” and “the pastor of the Allen A.M.E. Church in Queens.” That’s true, but the Times forgot a third part of his title — employee of the nation’s largest chain of charter schools.
Edison Charter Schools operates for-profit charter schools in 21 states plus the District of Columbia. Though Flake’s op-ed didn’t mention it, Edison hired Flake four years ago.
Edison Schools announced that Floyd H. Flake would be joining the company as President of Edison Charter Schools and as a member of the company’s Management Committee. In his new position, Flake will play a leading role in the expansion of Edison schools throughout the country.
In other words, Flake’s op-ed in the NYT presented charter schools as a magical elixir for what ails American education, but failed to alert readers to the fact that he has a personal, vested interest in seeing charter schools proliferate and receive millions of tax dollars.
Flake’s defense is presented as that of a dispassionate observer. That’s clearly not the case. Either the Times screwed up or Flake is intentionally trying to mislead. Or maybe both.