An investigation by TheRecord and NorthJersey.com into the seven Gülen-affiliated schools in the Garden State has found countless instances of fraud and budgetary impropriety. What’s more, these schools received over $60 million in taxpayer funds last year alone. NorthJersey.com lays out the findings of the investigation in detail. Among them:

A state-financed property deal involving the Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology also benefited its landlord, a private group with deep ties to Gulen.

Connections run deep among people involved with the schools, Gulenist groups and Turkish charter schools elsewhere in the U.S.

The schools and their vendors have successfully courted prominent public-school educators and political figures.

More than $30 million in long-term, low-interest loans have been granted by the state to benefit the Paterson science and technology charter despite its continuing financial and academic troubles.

Tracking tax dollars spent by the schools can be difficult because of loopholes in state law. ILearn, which is set to add a fifth charter to its chain this year, declined to answer routine requests for information about its payroll, saying that as a private contractor it is not subject to the state Open Public Records law.

Full article available here.