Pese a llevar casi un mes encarcelado, el principal líder de la oposición turca confía en que Ekrem Imamoglu logrará enfrentarse al presidente Recep Tayyip Erdogan en las elecciones presidenciales próximas y vencer en las urnas.

“Nuestro plan A, B, C y D es que sea nuestro candidato para las próximas elecciones. Todos los sondeos indican que Imamoglu vencería a Erdogan, por eso le cancelaron el diploma y abrieron cinco juicios diferentes contra él, para, finalmente, acusarlo de corrupción y terrorismo”, dijo otro de los referentes opositores, Özgür Özel.

“Esto es un golpe contra un rival, contra el próximo presidente”, agregó.

El pasado 18 de marzo, la Universidad de Estambul revocó el título de grado de Imamoglu, considerado el principal rival de Erdogan y quien, esa misma semana, competiría en las internas opositoras, con altas posibilidades de convertirse en su candidato definitivo.

Esta medida generó preocupación en el arco político dado que, según las leyes turcas, quien aspire a la presidencia debe -sin excepciones- contar con un diploma de estudio superior, lo que lo inhabilitaba para competir en 2028.

Sin embargo, tan solo un día más tarde, la Policía lo puso bajo arresto por supuestos cargos de corrupción y terrorismo, algo que él ha negado y que las autoridades aún no han demostrado con pruebas concretas.

“La acusación de terrorismo contra Imamoglu no se la cree nadie en Europa, todos saben que, para Erdogan, terrorista puede ser cualquiera”, declaró al respecto Özel, que advirtió, no obstante, que “los cargos de corrupción son un tema más sensible”.

Pese a ello, el líder del partido socialdemócrata CHP llamó al pueblo a alzarse en contra de este “intento de golpe de Estado” y a pedir elecciones anticipadas, que permitan poner fin a las dos décadas del presidente en el poder.

Así, ese mismo día convocó a la ciudadanía a manifestarse en la sede de la alcaldía, aunque con temor por esta convocatoria, dado que el Ejecutivo había emitido una prohibición de concentraciones en espacios públicos.

“Le dije a los compañeros: ‘Lo que tenga que suceder, sucederá hoy. Si vienen mil, hemos fracasado. Pero si vienen diez mil, cincuenta mi, será otra cosa’”, recordó sobre aquella primera jornada, que, sin mayores esfuerzos, reunió diez mil personas.

Los días siguientes, la cifra solo fue en aumento -tanto en Estambul como en otras ciudades- y ni la represión policial ni las órdenes gubernamentales pudieron frenar las manifestaciones populares.

A raíz de estas imágenes, Özel se percató de que, pese a tener a su principal candidato tras las rejas, el cambio en Turquía aún era posible, especialmente en este momento en el que, por ya haber cumplido con los dos mandatos previstos en la constitución, Erdogan no puede volver a postularse para el cargo.

Únicamente podría hacer eso si decidiera disolver el Parlamento y convocar a elecciones anticipadas, para lo que necesita una mayoría de dos tercios, casi imposible de conseguir dado que requiere una unión entre el CHP y el oficialista AKP.

Entonces, explicó el disidente, la estrategia ahora se basa en conformar una alianza amplia entre voces opositoras “que quieren la democracia, en una coalición para reforzar el papel del Parlamento”, en lugar de sostener la continuidad del sistema presidencialista.

“Antes había partidos que decían que si firma el DEM (izquierda prokurda, tercera fuerza parlamentaria), yo no firmo. Pero ahora estamos en un proceso en el que 11 partidos luchan juntos, ya sea en el Parlamento, ya sea en la calle. Si Zafer (ultraderecha) y DEM se pueden encontrar sobre el mismo fundamento, hay una posibilidad de proteger la democracia”, confió.

De hecho, sumó, ya ha reunido al menos 10 millones de apoyos que, de seguir aumentando hasta los 27 millones -número que dio el triunfo al Presiente en 2023-, se traducirá en una suerte de “moción de confianza”, que podría derivar en su pedido por elecciones anticipadas y en la consecuente liberación de Imamoglu.

“Erdogan quiere volver a ser candidato. Nuestra propuesta es que se convoquen elecciones cuanto antes, ya sea para junio, ya sea para noviembre, y que el pueblo decida”, insistió en ese sentido, con confianza de que ninguna de las estrategias en curso logrará vencer a la oposición.

(Con información de EFE)

An audit of D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) found staffing levels in the district have increased at a rate of seven-and-a-half times more than student enrollment, while simultaneously student achievement levels in the district still remain behind pre-pandemic levels for most students. 

The Office of the District of Columbia Auditor found that over a five-year period, while student enrollment grew by 2.6%, the number of staff increased by 19.5%. This amounts to roughly 1,600 new positions funded by the district since Fiscal Year 2020, and an approximately 43% increase in per-pupil spending.

Meanwhile, both in D.C. and nationally, students are still trying to find their way back to pre-pandemic achievement levels.

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«DC Public Schools works every day to help all our scholars reach their full potential. This recent report highlights a staffing strategy that prioritizes teachers and led to increases in enrollment and academic performance that stands out from other urban school districts. DCPS will work with the Office of the Chief Financial Officer to identify ways to improve data systems to demonstrate the district’s continued fiscal stewardship,» DCPS press secretary Evan Lambert told Fox News Digital in response to the audit’s findings. «Following the sunset of federal pandemic relief, DCPS has increased local funding to schools by decreasing the overall number of Central Services staff.»

The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, known colloquially as the nation’s report card, showed some improvements since the assessment was last released in 2022, but student achievement levels in reading and math nationally remain below 2019 levels for most students. In D.C. specifically, students saw better improvement than most big urban districts, but students in the nation’s capital have still not yet fully returned to pre-pandemic achievement levels, per the nation’s report card.

The United States is the third-biggest spender among the 40 other developed nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on per-pupil spending, according to the Education Data Initiative. The pandemic spurred a massive influx of cash into the public school system as well, but many districts were found to be putting all that extra funding toward staff salaries and bonuses, as opposed to things directly related to student achievement.

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In North Carolina, the Wake County Public School System spent 78% of its total pandemic relief funding on salaries and employee benefits. In Chicago’s public schools system 77% of the district’s pandemic money went to staff bonuses, salaries and benefits.

Nationally, according to research from nonprofit education news group The 74, public schools nationally added approximately 121,000 employees last year, even though they served about 110,000 fewer students. (Adobe Stock)

«Thanks to an infusion of $190 billion in federal relief funds, schools have been on a hiring spree over the last few years,» stated an analysis by nonprofit education news group The 74. «For example, before the pandemic, Los Angeles Unified was reducing its teacher count pretty much in line with its declining enrollment. But with the infusion of federal (and state) funds, Los Angeles kept staffing levels constant despite further enrollment declines. Gwinnett County in Georgia shows a similar bifurcated trend. Its staffing and enrollment lines were moving in tandem until the federal funds drove a rapid increase in hiring.»

The 74, which stands for the 74 million American school children enrolled in K-12 schools across America, examined staffing and enrollment levels in over 9,500 school districts across the country, comprising roughly 92% of all K-12 students nationwide. 

The nonprofit education newsgroup found that almost 3,000 districts saw staff levels increase despite enrollment declines. Others, according to the analysis, shrunk their staff counts, but not as quickly as they lost students, while another category included districts that gained students but increased their staffing levels even faster. According to The 74, public schools overall added approximately 121,000 employees last year overall, even though they served about 110,000 fewer students.

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U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order to reduce the size and scope of the Education Department alongside school children signing their own versions, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on March 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump and Republicans have taken steps to put greater control over school funding in the hands of individual states, as opposed to the federal government. Last month, he signed an executive order meant to effectively dismantle the U.S. Department of Education through transferring its educational authority to the states. Last week, GOP senators also introduced a bill to close the department.

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«Despite per-pupil spending having increased by more than 245% [since the 1970s,] there has been virtually no measurable improvement in student achievement,» Trump’s March 20 order stated. «President Donald J. Trump and his administration believe we can, and must, be better.»

A doctor in Berlin has been charged with murder over the deaths of 15 patients under palliative care, prosecutors said Wednesday. He is also accused of trying to cover up the evidence by starting fires in their homes.

The doctor was part of a nursing service’s end-of-life care team and was initially suspected in the deaths of just four patients. That number has crept higher since last summer, and investigators now say they’ve found evidence linking him to the deaths of 15 people between September 22, 2021, and July 24 last year.

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The victims’ ages ranged from 25 to 94. Most died in their own homes.

He allegedly administered an anesthetic and a muscle relaxer to the patients without their knowledge or consent. The drug cocktail then allegedly paralyzed the respiratory muscles. Respiratory arrest and death followed within minutes, prosecutors said.

The doctor — a 40-year-old man whose name hasn’t been released, in line with German privacy rules — has been in custody since Aug. 6. Prosecutors said Wednesday that he has not yet responded to the case against him.

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The charges were filed to the Berlin state court, which will now have to decide whether to bring the case to trial and if so, when.

Murder charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. Prosecutors said they aim to ask the court to establish that the suspect bears particularly severe guilt, meaning that he wouldn’t be eligible for release after 15 years as is usually the case in Germany. They also want him to be banned from his profession for life.