Gulen versus Erdogan battle spills over into Germany | DWCOM

Gulen versus Erdogan battle spills over into Germany | World | DW.COM | 20.07.2016:

Gulen versus Erdogan battle spills over into Germany

Germany's Turkish population is split after the coup attempt. No love is lost between followers of Fethullah Gulen and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Leaders of associations connected to the two men are playing down the issue.

 One can sense Ercan Karakoyu's agitation, his voice trembles as he speaks. There is a "massive" struggle against members of the Gulen movement here in Germany: "The situation is scary. Gulen movement facilities are being pelted with rocks, sprayed with graffiti and members have even been receiving death threats." Veritable witch hunts are underway on social media networks and text messaging platforms.

Karakoyu is the director of the Foundation for Dialog and Education. Since 2014, the foundation has served as the mouthpiece for the "Hizmet Movement" in Germany (Hizmet means "the Service" in English) - or as it is often called, the Gulen movement. It is made up of followers of Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, once a close companion of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and now considered to be his archenemy.

One of the groups that Karakoyu accuses of being responsible for the agitation is the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD). He says it is a kind of an AKP (Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party) lobbying group, acting as the long arm of President Erdogan in Germany.

"Other mosque associations, such as DiTiB, have also hung signs saying that Gulen supporters have no place in their communities." He mentions three specific instances: in Hagen, Duisburg and Günzburg.

With some 700 mosques under its aegis, DiTiB, the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs, is the largest mosque association in Germany. When asked about Karakoyu's accusations, representatives seem surprised.

Thousands of Erdogan supporters protested against the Gulen movement in Istanbul

The press spokesperson for DiTiB, Ayse Aydin, categorically denies them: "We are a Muslim religious community, and we never turn away anyone who wants to pray in a mosque." As a rule, all DiTiB mosques are open to anyone that wants to pray.

Escalating after the putsch

DiTiB is closely associated with state religious authorities in Turkey. The conflict between it and the Foundation for Dialog and Education, is thus also a conflict between supporters of Erdogan and Gulen. The quarrel puts a spotlight on the mood of the Turkish community in Germany, which has shown deep divisions in the days following the failed putsch in Turkey.

Dr. Christoph Ramm is an expert on Turkey at the University of Bern, in Switzerland. He is not in the least surprised that things are turbulent at the moment: "The Turkish government calls the Gulen movement a terrorist organization. They have made a massive attempt to remove all Gulen supporters from the justice system, the police force and the military." Media outlets that are loyal to Gulen, such as "Zaman", the most widely circulated newspaper in Turkey, have also been affected by these "purges."

The preacher's shadowy goals

Influential media reporting is one of the fundamental pillars of the Gulen movement. Officially, it Gulen versus Erdogan battle spills over into Germany | World | DW.COM | 20.07.2016:

The Republic of Turkey Wants the State of Texas to Investigate Gulen Charter Schools. | deutsch29

The Republic of Turkey Wants the State of Texas to Investigate Gulen Charter Schools. | deutsch29:

The Republic of Turkey Wants the State of Texas to Investigate Gulen Charter Schools.

In October 2015, the Republic of Turkey retained the international law firm, Amsterdam and Partners, to investigate the global activities of Pennsylvania resident, the mysterious Turkish cleric, Fethullah Gulen, whose network of followers happen to operate over 100 US charter schools.

  Fethullah Gulen

On May 19, 2016, the Texas Tribune reported that Amsterdam and Partners planned to file a complaint with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) regarding alleged illegal operation of one specific Gulen-run charter school network, Harmony Schools.

Here is the text of that 32-page complaint, dated May 26, 2016.

And here are some powerful excerpts supporting the need for TEA intervention (citations removed for ease of reading):

This brief in support of the complaint against Cosmos Foundation, Inc., d/b/a Harmony Public Schools, (collectively “Harmony”) is submitted to the Texas Education Agency (“TEA”) with a request for a comprehensive investigation and sanctions as appropriate. … Though Harmony has been the subject of federal and state investigations in the last five years, each has been limited in scope and none has focused on Harmony’s employment, procurement, or operational practices. Though Harmony has been the subject of federal and state investigations in the last five years, each has been limited in scope and none has focused on Harmony’s employment, procurement, or operational practices. …

The need for a thorough TEA investigation of Harmony is even more pressing given Harmony’s aggressive growth plans. Taking advantage of Texas’ permissive replication rules, Harmony is rapidly expanding throughout the State by opening new campuses with limited state involvement or oversight. With forty-six campuses already, Harmony is poised to open up to fifteen new campuses over the next two school years serving an estimated additional 10,000 students. These expansions, if allowed to proceed, will cost Texas millions of taxpayer dollars per campus. With documented evidence of employment discrimination, self-dealing, violation of procurement laws, and concerning connections to a confederation of charter schools and charter school networks across the United States and world, Harmony’s operations in the state call for a comprehensive investigation immediately. …

Federal law prohibits employment discrimination based on national origin and gender, yet Harmony systematically favors individuals of Turkish nationality in hiring and job assignment. and men 12 A plain review of Harmony’s employment data submitted to the TEA shows that Harmony discriminates 1) in the recruiting and hiring of Turkish teachers with no American teaching experience or credentialing at the expense of qualified American teachers; and 2) in the hiring and promotion of almost exclusively Turkish men to leadership positions throughout the Harmony network. This is particularly egregious behavior since Harmony has already been successfully sued by former employees for employment discrimination on the basis of gender and national origin. …

An H-1B visa is a special visa intended to be used for placing a foreign individual in a U.S. job that cannot be staffed with U.S. citizens. Harmony uses the H-1B visa process extensively, claiming it cannot find enough The Republic of Turkey Wants the State of Texas to Investigate Gulen Charter Schools. | deutsch29:

Turkey seeks probes of American charter schools it says are linked to Fethullah Gulen - The Washington Post

Turkey seeks probes of American charter schools it says are linked to Fethullah Gulen - The Washington Post:

Turkey seeks probes of American charter schools it says are linked to Fethullah Gulen

The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has asked education officials in Texas and California to investigate publicly funded charter schools in those states that it says are linked to a Muslim cleric living in the United States, a man the government alleges was the mastermind of a coup attempt this month. The Turkish government also is planning to bring more complaints in other parts of the U.S.

The Erdogan government, through the international law firm Amsterdam & Partners LLP, recently filed a formal complaint with the Texas Education Agency against a charter network called Harmony Public Schools, which operates 46 math, science and technology campuses in Texas and has received more than $250 million in federal and state funds.

[Turkey declares a state of emergency for three months]

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Turkey alleges that the Harmony schools are part of a network of more than 160 charter schools in more than 25 states started by Turkish men, all said to be inspired by Fethullah Gulen, the preacher who lives in seclusion in Pennsylvania. The complaint in Texas alleges, among other things, that the schools have abused public funds, funneled money to Gulen’s movement — known as Hizmet (or Service) — violated legal requirements surrounding open and competitive bidding, and discriminated against employees on the basis of national origin and gender.

[Fethullah Gulen: The Islamic scholar Turkey blames for the failed coup]

Officials at the Harmony schools — the first of the network of charters said to be Gulen-inspired — have repeatedly denied any connection to Gulen or any intent to proselytize religion at the schools. Soner Tarim, a co-founder and chief executive officer of Harmony Public Schools, said the allegations against the successful charter schools are false.

“The government of Turkey is spending millions of dollars on lobbyists and publicists. Just because Registered Foreign Agents keep repeating these allegations, doesn’t make them true,” Tarim said. “No one disputes our success of a 98 percent graduation rate and 100 percent college acceptance rate. It is time to look at the facts, not reprint false accusations.”

The D.C. Public Charter School Board allowed a Harmony charter school to open in the nation’s capital in 2014, and the head of the board, Scott Pearson, said he thoroughly investigated claims that the charter is connected to the Gulen movement, first when he was working at the Turkey seeks probes of American charter schools it says are linked to Fethullah Gulen - The Washington Post:

Big Education Ape: KILLING ED: 120 American Charter Schools and One Secretive Turkish Cleric -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/01/killing-ed-120-american-charter-schools.html

Big Education Ape: What Do the Corporate Reformers and Campbell Brown Have to Say about The Gulen Charter School Scandal - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/what-do-corporate-reformers-and.html

Big Education Ape: Turkish exile sparks questions about Congress travel, charter schools -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/turkish-exile-sparks-questions-about.html

Big Education Ape: Turkey widens post-coup purge, demands Washington hand over cleric | Reuters -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/turkey-widens-post-coup-purge-demands.html

Big Education Ape: Fethullah Gulen Should Not Be Operating American Charter Schools. | deutsch29 -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/fethullah-gulen-should-not-be-operating.html

Big Education Ape: Reclusive Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, blamed for failed coup in Turkey - LA Times -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/reclusive-muslim-cleric-fethullah-gulen.html

Big Education Ape: US would consider extradition request for exiled cleric -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/us-would-consider-extradition-request.html

 Big Education Ape: Fethullah Gulen: The Islamic scholar Turkey blames for the failed coup - The Washington Post - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/fethullah-gulen-islamic-scholar-turkey.html

Big Education Ape: Jersey Jazzman: What We Don't Know About Gulen-Linked Charter Schools, And Why That's a Problem - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/jersey-jazzman-what-we-dont-know-about.html

Big Education Ape: Coup in Turkey: Is Fetullah Gulen Behind It? | Diane Ravitch's blog - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/coup-in-turkey-is-fetullah-gulen-behind.html

Big Education Ape: KILLING ED: 120 American Charter Schools and One Secretive Turkish Cleric -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/01/killing-ed-120-american-charter-schools.html

 Big Education Ape: Update: Gulen Harmony charter school network accused of bias and self-dealing Dallas Morning News - http://go.shr.lc/1qV85Hm

Big Education Ape: Turkey Links Texas Charter Schools to Dissident - WSJ - http://go.shr.lc/1OW1ZfV

Big Education Ape: Magnolia Science Academy - A Gulen Charter School: Gulen Magnolia Science Academy links discussed at LAUSD board meeting -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/06/magnolia-science-academy-gulen-charter.html

Read Like A Detective | Johnathan Chase | LinkedIn

Read Like A Detective | Johnathan Chase | LinkedIn:

Read Like A Detective

Back in 2011, Lauren Resnick was introducing the keynote speaker, David Coleman, at University of Pittsburgh's Institute For Learning and she reflected on the early days of manufacturing the Common Core ELA standards...

" I remember being with Tony, who was there, when he handed out a list of ten – handed out a list of ten proposed standards that – at that moment seemed as reasonable as anything else for the new English standards that were gonna be forthcoming.

The first one said, “Read like a detective.” That‟s it. That was standard number one – so powerful a one that it‟s driven out of my mind the other nine....And we look at this and my memory is there was a long moment of silence, right, Tony? Do you remember that, too, David?

And what I really want to say is that reading like a detective is now part of our core standards. It‟s not there in words, but it informs – that was a kind of inventive way to put an idea on the table that established a standard..."

What Must Be Done in the Next Two Years 2011 IFL Senior Leadership Meeting December 8-9, 2011 David Coleman, Keynote Speaker

In 2012, David Coleman spoke about "reading like a detective" at a summer conference for teachers...

"David Coleman stood at a podium reciting poetry. After reading Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,” a classic example of the villanelle form, Coleman wanted to know why green is the only color mentioned in the poem, why Thomas uses the grammatically incorrect go gentle instead of go gently, and how the poet’s expression of grief is different from Elizabeth Bishop’s in her own villanelle, “One Art.”

“Kids don’t wonder about these things,” Coleman told his audience, a collection of 300 public-school English teachers and administrators. “It is you as teachers who have this obligation” to ask students “to read like a detective and write like an Read Like A Detective | Johnathan Chase | LinkedIn:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: What Junior forgot to mention about Chicago gun violence

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: What Junior forgot to mention about Chicago gun violence:

What Junior forgot to mention about Chicago gun violence

D.T. Junior had so much oil on his head last night, Dad was worried the stage lights might ignite him. And wouldn't that be tragic on top of everything else, Melania-gate and all?

Looking for some easy claps from the convention's dwindling gaggle of racist Trump sycophants, Junior called outChicago, cynically using the rising death toll that gun violence has taken in the city's black and Latino neighborhoods to make his case against any and all gun control legislation.

"Just look at how effective those laws have been in inner-city Chicago, a city with the toughest gun laws in our nation, where 70 people were murdered last month alone and where over 3,400 American lives have been lost since this administration took office in 2009." 

No Junior. Chicago doesn't have the toughest gun laws in the country.

But I'll give him a point for trying. He's right that local gun laws alone don't do much to stop the Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: What Junior forgot to mention about Chicago gun violence:

Jersey Jazzman: School Funding Hypocrisy: Presidential Candidate Edition

Jersey Jazzman: School Funding Hypocrisy: Presidential Candidate Edition:

School Funding Hypocrisy: Presidential Candidate Edition

Fair warning: I'm going to start with Trump, but I'm not going to let Clinton off the hook. Stay with me...

Last night, at the Republican National Convention, the candidate's son took the stage to engage in some good old fashioned teacher bashing. The crowd, naturally contemptuous of anyone who might be complicit in teaching the nation's youth how to think critically, ate it all up. Look carefully and you'll see Chris Christie, our country's foremost teacher basher, standing near the front of the crowd, egging Don Trump, Jr. on as he blamed America's education woes on those hated teachers and their unions.

The fun starts at 7:25:

(7:25) The other party gave us public schools that far too often fail our students, especially those who have no options. Growing up, my siblings and I, we were truly fortunate to have choices and options that others don't have. We want all Americans to have those same Jersey Jazzman: School Funding Hypocrisy: Presidential Candidate Edition:

Dr. Michael Flanagan: A Rebuttal to Donny Jr. - Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association:

A Rebuttal to Donny Jr.

by Dr. Michael Flanagan, BAT Director and NY Teacher

Okay, in honor of D-bag Jr. I will make all the anti-teacher arguments here in one post:

1. "Teachers have tenure so they can't be fired". Wrong, teachers have due process, which means we are entitled to be able to defend ourselves, which allows us to speak out on issues affecting all of our kids.

2. "Teachers get summers off with pay" Wrong, we actually lend money to the cities and states, and let them pay us on an annual basis, rather than pay us our entire salary up front. Therefore the municipalities make a profit on the interest they gain from withholding that pay. 

3. "Teachers can retire at 55" More like be forced out by 55. Age discrimination is rampant, and there are teacher shortages throughout the country, because younger is cheaper, and of course, cheaper is better for our children. 

4. "Unions only care about protecting bad teachers and money". No, unions are the one thing that keeps wages up, and everyone benefits from that. Right to Work Laws have devastated our economy. Trump wants to "Make America Great Again", as always it depends on who you ask when America was great, but I think he means when this country had a high standard of living, and that would be when unions raised the middle class. 

5. Teachers are the reason the schools are "failing". Yeah, has nothing to do with poverty and inequality. Funny how failing schools are aligned to the zip codes of the poorest communities. 

Okay, not sure of the rest of the stupid arguments against teachers, but those are the good old standards that the ignorant always roll out. Just figured I would put all the nastiness in one place, save us time on moving from thread to thread defending our chosen profession. God help this country.

Protecting our children after the wounds of racism divide us even more

Protecting our children after the wounds of racism divide us even more:

Protecting our children after the wounds of racism divide us even more

ind myself in this place again. I am numb. I feel empty. I almost have no words.

In 2012, around the time of the birth of my son, I had a similar feeling. Trayvon Martin was killed. I was pregnant with a black male in a world that was not ready for him.

And here I am again, with a three-and-a-half-year-old now, following the deaths of many, many others. The recent deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and the Dallas and Baton Rouge police officers take me back to this place of despair. The constant barrage of horrifying images and commentary on traditional and social media footage of the tragedies only makes it worse.

Oddly enough, events like this drove me to academia. I reluctantly pursued a career in research. But, because these events are not going away, I, like a magnet, was drawn to research of widely publicized racially charged events on everyone, but especially on people of color. While I am heartbroken at the events themselves, I am glad to be doing research that might lead to better understanding, if not some healing, of the wounds that separate us.

Many black people are experiencing these events as acts of vicarious racism. Vicarious racism traditionally refers to experiencing racial discrimination indirectly through close contacts, such as family members and peers. I strongly believe, however, that this definition is not inclusive enough. Vicarious racism can be experienced by those who are not directly involved with the event, but who identify with the victims of racism generally on the basis of race. Age and gender could also be factors.

As a pediatrician, I am extremely concerned about vicarious racism’s impact on our children and youth. While my research is burgeoning, my concern is that black Protecting our children after the wounds of racism divide us even more:

CURMUDGUCATION: Reformster Calls for Attack on Unions

CURMUDGUCATION: Reformster Calls for Attack on Unions:

Reformster Calls for Attack on Unions

You may not have heard of Peter Cook, but reformsters like him are a dime a dozen these days. Well, not a dime. They're considerably more expensive than that.

Cook likes to bill himself as a former teacher. Can you guess what his teaching experience is? Yes, in 2002, right after he graduated from Washington and Lee University with a BA in European History, he put in two years with Teach for America. A few years later he put in a year teaching math at a KIPP charter. The rest of his career has ben as a consultanty expert with groups like The New Teacher Project. Most recently he has worked as the "Engagement Manager" with Mass Insight Education, and he's been particularly active in New Orleans where he serves on the DFER Lousianna board. So yes-- he's an other one of the instant experts in education working hard to get those public tax dollars into private pockets.

Cook, like most of the DFER (Democrats Faux Education Reform) crowd, is concerned about Hillary Clinton's possible apostasy. First, some of Bernie Sander's delegates to the platform committeemanaged to add some language that dramatically broadened the definition of a bad charter school-- broad enough that the definition is now "most of them." Then, while addressing the gathering of the AFT, Clinton spoke as if maybe she had actually read the final platform and was going along with it.

DFER and like-minded folks went into panic mode. And Cook is now here to say that they are right to do so. Like many, he has been saying all along that Clinton could be trusted to make some placatory noises, but under it all she would remain loyal to the True Charter Faith. Now he believes he was wrong about her.

First she said that charters don't take hard-to-teach children. Next she said that poor students are hurt the most by testing. She even promised teachers a seat at the table.

Cook's hand-wringing is a study in how different things look from different vantage points. The hard-to-teach kids thing? Not really news. (See also, Success Academy's Got To Go list.) The link between poverty and test results is so well-documented that I didn't think anyone denied it any more. And Clinton's offer of a seat at the table has prompted widespread teacher observations on the order of, "It's our damn table, thanks."

But Cook is also one of those reformsters who believes all opposition to charter schools and other reforms can be traced to just one source:

I’m not as worried about Clinton’s education policy statements as I am about the weakened position of reformers vis-à-vis the teachers unions, both within the Democratic Party and Clinton’s inner circle.

I've heard many times the tale of how poor benighted billionaires like Eli Broad need to create their networks of political operatives and high-priced websites because they are so outgunned by anti-reform forces, by which they usually mean the unions. Cook goes far in his explanation of how this union conspiracy is laid (and is busy stealing the Democratic Party from refomsters). It is a CURMUDGUCATION: Reformster Calls for Attack on Unions:

 

What Did GOP Vice Presidential Nominee Mike Pence Do For Indiana Schools As Governor? Here's A Look : NPR Ed : NPR

What Did GOP Vice Presidential Nominee Mike Pence Do For Indiana Schools As Governor? Here's A Look : NPR Ed : NPR:

What Did Mike Pence Do For Indiana Schools As Governor? Here's A Look

Tonight is the night Indiana Gov. Mike Pence will take the stage in Cleveland at the 2016 Republican National Convention. He is now, officially, the vice-presidential running mate of Republican nominee Donald Trump.

But before that happens, we want to take a dive into Pence's education policies in the nearly four years he's been the governor of Indiana.

POLITICS

Meet Mike Pence, 'Midwestern Polite' With An Unrelenting Conservative Message

Just how much does he have in common with Donald Trump when it comes to schools and education? Definitely not nothing. Let's take a look.

Common Core

"Got to get rid of Common Core — fast." That was Trump just before presenting Pence on television to the nation as his running mate last Saturday.

And at one point a couple of years ago, it seemed Gov. Pence would be the trailblazer to do just that: be the first state leader to repeal Common Core (the national math and English education standards) after having adopted it at the state level. But it didn't totally turn out that way.

Let's go back to 2010, when Indiana's former Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels and the GOP-controlled Statehouse wholeheartedly endorsed Common Core for Indiana.

Three years later, when Pence took office, local Tea Party groups and other activists began a campaign to repeal the standards they saw as a federal overreach into classrooms.

Then, in 2014, Pence signed into law a withdrawal from Common Core and promised a quick turnaround for new school standards, "written by hoosiers, for hoosiers."

But many anti-Common Core advocates felt betrayed by the results — because of similarities between the math and English portions of Common Core, and Indiana's new guidelines.

Sandra Stotsky, a retired University of Arkansas professor, and critic of the national standards, was asked by the Pence administration to review the proposed standards. She described a draft of the English exam as a warmed-over version of Common Core. Since then, her opinion hasn't changed.

Other critics of Indiana's education standards have taken to social media the past week What Did GOP Vice Presidential Nominee Mike Pence Do For Indiana Schools As Governor? Here's A Look : NPR Ed : NPR:

Big Education Ape: Koch Brothers’ Friends Funding Mike Pence | Hoosier School Heist Blog -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2015/07/koch-brothers-friends-funding-mike.html

Big Education Ape: Schools Matter: The Real Story Behind Mike Pence’s Charter School Speech -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2015/07/schools-matter-real-story-behind-mike.html

Big Education Ape: The bigot Mike Pence and his neighbor Bruce Rauner. | Fred Klonsky -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-bigot-mike-pence-and-his-neighbor.html

Big Education Ape: BREAKING NEWS - Trump goes with anti-public education running mate - Wait What? -http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/breaking-news-trump-goes-with-anti.html

Big Education Ape: The big trouble in Indiana public schools, as explained by a troubled educator - The Washington Post - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-big-trouble-in-indiana-public.html

Hoosier School Heist TV is Doug Martin's channel featuring videos of his book tour across Indiana speaking on the corporate takeover of public education. Order Hoosier School Heist at http://hoosierschoolheist.com/.

Follow Hoosier School Heist on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HoosierSchoolHeist

Tweet with Doug Martin at: https://twitter.com/DougMartinED

Louisiana Educator: Government Schools vs School Privatization

Louisiana Educator: Government Schools vs School Privatization:

Government Schools vs School Privatization

In some cases the reformers of public education prefer to have public schools operated by Turkish, muslim dominated, self appointed foundations, than by our elected school boards

Haters of and so called reformers of our public school systems have hit upon what they think is a great way to rebrand and stigmatize our public schools with a negative image. These public school opponents, such as Fox News commentator, John Stossel, now often refer to our public schools as "government schools". The implication is that anything run by government is somehow substandard while anything run by private business, religious groups, or entrepreneurs is inherently good and successful.  Favored "non-government" school groups include Turkish muslim dominated foundations such as those established byTurkish immigrant Fetullah Gulen. Louisiana originally had two such schools. Gulen schools are the second largest group of charter schools in the U.S.

This trend in school privatization denies the democratic underpinnings of our public schools, where we the people elect the school boards that manage the public schools funded with our tax dollars. The animosity that is being generated toward our "government schools" assumes that the voters are not capable of electing persons who are qualified to manage our schools. Yet at the same time we are being led to believe that it is OK to hand over our schools with minimal oversight to profit seeking managers. The only apparent requirement is that these unsupervised managers raise student test scores. We now have ample evidence that test scores can be artificially raised in numerous ways that in no way reflect academic achievement! 

I believe this privatization movement is a recipe for the destruction of our public schools, yet the Republican party platform adopted just this week calls for major expansions of school choice using charter schools and vouchers.Unfortunately this trend is not restricted to only one political party. The sub-group, Democrats for Education Reform strongly advocates for the expansion of charters.

In Louisiana the experiments in school privatization through "government" funding of charter schools and voucher schools has produced a plethora of highly inefficient and often fraudulent school management schemes. I would like to point out some of the most serious abuses.

The charter schools across our nation inspired by the Turkish cleric, Fetullah Gulen are characterized by Turkish male dominated, autocratic management. In Louisiana, investigations have uncovered  rigged construction bidding using our tax dollars favoring Turkish construction companies, abuse of special Louisiana Educator: Government Schools vs School Privatization:

Big Education Ape: Unelected charter school boards control millions of public dollars in North Carolina and Charlotte but may lack skills to run a school, a consultant says. | The Charlotte Observer - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2016/07/unelected-charter-school-boards-control.html

OKCPS, KIPP compromise signals room for agreement - NonDoc

OKCPS, KIPP compromise signals room for agreement - NonDoc:

OKCPS, KIPP compromise signals room for agreement

Monday was a great night for Oklahoma City Public Schools when the OKCPS board rejected KIPP charter school’s proposed takeover of the Martin Luther King Jr. neighborhood school.

Superintendent Aurora Lora deserves great praise for extricating the OKCPS from a bitter conflict and negotiating a common sense deal. Ultimately, the board made the right decision for the right reasons: It voted for stability while also backing the district’s incoming leader, and it did so in the right way — through a compromise.

The decision respects the voices of patrons and educators. It must also be noted that KIPPsupporters responded graciously. Most KIPP patrons are primarily concerned about their own children instead of attacking adult opponents. After Monday’s meeting, several leaders who sought to use the charter-conversion law to defeat the school system and the teachers union expressed a willingness to move forward in a collaborative manner.

Maybe they will or maybe they won’t continue to push win-lose competition between schools as the path to educational improvement. Maybe they will or maybe they won’t work with educators who support win-win policies.

Regardless, there seems to be an opportunity to seek out areas of agreement.

‘No harm, no foul’

The most important part of the compromise was that the forced conversion of a neighborhood elementary school into aOKCPS, KIPP compromise signals room for agreement - NonDoc: