The Opposite of Fact

What is the opposite of FACT?

      No, it's not OPINION.  Legitimate opinions are based on facts, so they're not the opposite of fact.

       The opposite of FACT is a man named RAFIQ R. KALAM ID-DIN II.  Mr. Kalam recently wrote an article in the New York Post in which he stretches the facts about charter-school co-locations beyond the realm of opinion and into the netherworld of obfuscation and outright misinformation.

*KALAM SAYS: Co-location of charter schools in New York City public schools is simply "the sharing of open space between a new and an existing school."

*THE FACTS: The space that charter schools want to share with (or borrow or steal from) district schools is rarely "open." Usually it is space that the existing school needs desperately, either for survival or for potential growth. Follow this link to read about this common situation, and this one to see how it is affecting one particular school in Brooklyn.   

*KALAM SAYS: Charter schools "receive no money for facilities."

*THE FACTS: Those charter schools that have already received free lodging through co-location are most definitely getting "money for facilities."  Those that don't can turn to the billionaires--such as Bill Gates and the Broad family--that have donated fortunes to charter schools.

*KALAM SAYS: Charter school co-locations are being opposed by the UFT, which is a "multi-billion dollar" organization. 

*THE FACTS: The UFT's total assets are approximately $137 MILLION, far less than even a quarter of a billion dollars, and little more than chump change compared to the money that Bill Gates and a horde of hedge-fund operators are investing in charter schools.