A public school activist in Massachusetts sent this letter from Robert Amsterdam, an attorney retained by the Government of Turkey to investigate the large charter chain run by Fetullah Gulen. Gulen is an Islamic cleric who lives in seclusion in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He has some vague connection with some 170 or so charter schools that are paid for with public funds but staffed and run mainly by Turkish nationals. Now, says Amsterdam, the Gulen chain plans to open another charter school in Westfield and other nearby districts in Massachusetts. This charter will drain resources and students from the democratically controlled public schools of Westfield. The private board of the Gulen charter will not be elected by voters, but selected by its Turkish owners.
Amsterdam writes:
“On February 27, the 12-member Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will be voting on whether or not to allow the Chicopee-based Hampden Charter School of Science to open a sister school in Westfield. In the application tabled by HCSS West, the new facility would aim to be a regional grade 6-12 school drawing 588 students from Agawam, Holyoke, Westfield, and West Springfield school districts.
“Parents and taxpayers should urgently Press the board to reject this request. This school has known ties to the Turkish-run Pioneer Charter Schools of Science in Everett and Saugas, which are part of a nationwide network of some 170 schools operated by Fetullah Gulen.”
Amsterdam goes on to point out the financial abuses associated with Gulen schools, in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
Two-thirds of voters in the affected districts voted against charter expansion last November.
Expanding charters is part of the Trump strategy for privatizing public schools.
Massachusetts has the best state school system in the nation. Protect it from privatization. Make it better.
Stop the Trump-DeVos agenda now, in Massachusetts!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I almost sympathize with Gulen now. The authoritarian Turkish government wants to crush Gulen, as he’s one of the last remaining pillars of opposition to Turkey’s Trump: Erdogan. Gulen seems to be using the charter schools as a refuge for his people.
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Baloney. He drains money from public schools for his political activities in Turkey. I have no sympathy for Erdogan, a petty tyrant, but why are we outsourcing our schools?
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Very good point! These schools are in many states with different school names. Why should these schools receive taxpayer $$$ ?
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Why should corporate chains replace local community schools?
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Our public schools should lose funding so a billionaire can hide people who supported a violent coup including an assassination attempt? No.
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A little more complicated than that . Erdogan staged his own coup on Turkeys secular constitution and on the press first. The fact that both used to be allied and are equally deplorable another twist in the story.
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I disagree with the idea that U.S. publicly funded schools should be used as sanctuary, no matter which side of a foreign dispute is most favorable. Gülen is no saint. He certainly is no supporter of democratic, American, public education.
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Nevada has 9 Gulen Charters aka Coral Academies. Including the charter on the Nellis Air Force Base. The Airforce base wanted a charter because the school building was old. Coral Academy was willing to build a new school building.
The charter displaced all the public school teachers to turn the school into a charter. The teachers were all military or family of military. Yes, families serving in the military was put out so Turkish teachers could be put in.
Now they run the Nellis Airforce Base school – and attack people like me for questioning their bad data. Coral Academy has 9 campuses in Nevada but only two sets of data. Hard to tell what is really going on at these charters when they are not accountable.
This whole thing stinks. Big time.
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Wow.
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I’d like to see evidence from those making comments here. The US has had Charter government funded schools to stand up for children of all backgrounds to receive an excellent education.
I grew up in Boston ( I am white) during the 1960’s and witnessed violent racism in our neighborhoods abd schools. The charter schools including Gulen schools are non secular. They offer comprehensive education for all students regardless of sec, creed or race. Do not connect this system with Trump/Duvos.
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Cat N, if you want evidence, read any of my last three books. Charter schools started in the early 1990s. On average, most are no better than public schools, and some are truly abysmal, including for-profit charters that rip off kids and taxpayers.
Go to the website of the Network for Public Educatuon and read the reports on charter scandals.
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