FETÖ school in US gets approval despite experts’ objection

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

A charter school commission in the U.S. state of Alabama approved on June 7 a 1-year extension to start operation of a charter school despite objections of the superintendent of education, experts and local Alabamians.

According to local journalist Trisha Powell Crain, who was present at the meeting in capital Montgomery, the motion was approved after a 5-1 vote.

The commission requested Woodland Preparatory in rural Washington County meets deadlines, otherwise, Commissioner Tommy Ledbetter said, “they are subject to violating their contract.”

The decision comes amid growing protests from locals and education experts who voiced criticism about the Woodland Prep’s poor credentials and its links to FETÖ, which is widely believed to have orchestrated the failed coup attempt of July 2016 in Turkey.

State Superintendent of Education in Alabama Eric Mackey sent a letter on June 4 to the charter school commission saying he is “deeply disturbed by many concerns surrounding” the school that is one of over 150 for-profit schools of FETÖ in the U.S.

FETÖ has a considerable presence outside Turkey, including private schools that serve as a revenue stream for the group. It runs some 150 charter schools in several states of the U.S.

The group is widely believed to have orchestrated the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2016 which left 251 people dead and nearly 2,200 injured in Turkey.