Who is responsible?
Clearly, allowing a foreign politico-religious movement to infiltrate the US public education system and use it to further its own economic and political goals was a very serious mistake.
So where does the responsibility for this phenomenal error of judgment lie?
Should the blame be assigned to conservatives or Republicans, who are so eager to push privatization and the charter school movement for their own economic benefit that they turn a blind eye to abuses, no matter how excessive?
Or is it the fault of leftists, progressives or Democrats who are overly afraid of criticizing any group that happens to be Islamic, and who are paralyzed by political correctness?
Or does the culpability lie with libertarians and other advocates of small government who have pushed so zealously to erode the laws and controls on charter schools that the system now invites corruption?
We offer an alternative answer: all sides are responsible.
And all sides need to work together to solve this problem.
We believe that attempting to politicize the issue of the Gulen Movement’s involvement in our charter schools is not constructive. There is plenty of blame to be spread around everywhere.
At the same time, a small number of people from all over the political spectrum are working to end this corrupting influence on our education system. No one side can fairly claim exclusive credit for working to end this problem.
Perhaps such grassroots efforts from people of many different political persuasions could represent a new beginning for us. Our nation faces serious challenges that affect everyone, not just those of one political viewpoint. The solutions will only come if we care more about solving the problems than about pointing fingers in one direction or another.