Gulen Schools, Parents Across America responds

http://parentsacrossamerica.org/2012/05/paas-sharon-higgins-on-60-minutes-gulen-charter-schools-report/
Those of us who have been aware of the Gulen movement’s stealth involvement in an enormous network of publicly-funded charter schools are pleased that CBS News finally gave the situation wide national coverage. However, the 60 Minutes segment broadcast last Sunday, May 13, left out a number of important things.  [NOTE: They (and you!) should be following @CASILIPS on Twitter.]
What 60 Minutes omitted
60 Minutes should have independently verified the Harmony administrator’s claim that the chain has a waiting list of ~30,000 students. Unless such numbers can be independently verified, the waiting list figures offered by charter schools are hearsay and should be viewed as a marketing strategy.
60 Minutes should have mentioned that Gulenists are Creationists. Especially since the schools boast about providing superior science education, one is left to wonder if and how the schools provide instruction of evolution.
60 Minutes did not perform due diligence when reporting about Harmony’s test scores. The data analyses by Ed Fuller about Harmony’s high student attrition and CASILIPS about Harmony’s unimpressive comparative SAT scores (which were both available online during the show’s production) should have should have triggered the necessary skepticism!
60 Minutes did not go into the Turkish cultural instruction, a main feature of ALL Gulen movement schools and a feature which is NOT presented to authorizers in the charter school applications. For instance, why are students at the Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School taught to perform a Sufi religious ritual? Look quick (!) before the Gulenists delete this video. Scrubbing websites after revelatory material has been exposed is quite often done.
In addition, 60 Minutes should have reported some of the recent stories about other Gulen charter schools.
For instance, the charter renewal for Truebright Science Academy in Philadelphia – the school closest to Fethullah Gulen’s (former kids’ summer camp) compound in the Poconos, the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center – was recently rejected on several grounds, including low academic performance, lack of certified staff, and high turnover of administrators.
And Fulton Science Academy Middle School in Georgia also recently had its charter renewal rejected, along with its appeal to the state, despite having been recognized as a Blue Ribbon Award-winning school. A number of serious concerns had been noted having to do with shadowy governance, conflicts of interest, multiple failures of compliance, and six-million dollars of missing bond money. As the director of the state’s Charter Schools Division wrote: “In fact, the deeper we dug through all the materials FSA submitted… the more questions we had and the more we realized the depth and breadth of the reasons FCS [Fulton County Schools] could have denied FSAMS.”
Then there were the stories about the two Gulen charter schools in Louisiana. Last summer, one school had its charter revoked (Abramson Science and Technology School) for numerous complaints including the attempted bribe of a public official, failure to report sexual incidents, teachers completing student science projects, withholding resources from special ed students, and more. Complaints were also made about the other school (Kenilworth Science and Technology Charter School) having a high number of uncertified teachers, poor handling of special education, and even the existence of a “prayer room” at the school. Both of these schools (along with Gulen charter schools in Arkansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, plus the School of Science and Technology schools in TX — all states in which the Gulen movement calls its South-Central region) are operated in partnership with the Cosmos Foundation, operator of the Texas Harmony schools featured on 60 Minutes.
Fethullah Gulen’s lame excuse for self-exile Sorry but I (a former critical care R.N.) do not buy Fethullah Gulen’s excuse for needing to be in the U.S. year after year for medical treatment. His supposed diabetes, heart and kidney problems are not rare conditions. Rather they are extremely common ailments which could be treated by plenty of doctors in Turkey who are currently managing thousands of patients with similar diagnoses. Istanbul, for instance, has a Gulen movement-associated center which provides the most advanced medical treatment for Mr. Gulen’s type of ailments.
Besides, Saylorsburg, the location of Gulen’s compound in the Poconos (the mountain forest of northeastern Pennsylvania) is not exactly known for its close proximity to a world renowned medical center for patients who have, as Mr. Gulen is portrayed, exceptional needs.
Spokesman Alp Aslandogan
Alp Aslandogan (full name Yuksel Alp Aslandogan) seems to have been made the movement’s spokesperson for U.S. audiences. Aslandogan must be fairly high up in the Gulen movement’s hierarchical brotherhood and is not just any “businessman” as 60 Minutes stated.
In 1999, Aslandogan, Harun H. Solak , Zekeriya Baskal, Ahmet H. Aydilek and Melen M. Dogan submitted an application to Milwaukee Public Schools for the Wisconsin Career Academy. This charter school was approved and has been operating since 2000, but this year the Milwaukee School Board voted to end its agreement with WCA. The school is in the process of changing into a private school (Wisconsin College Preparatory Academy) so it can tap U.S. tax dollars via the Milwaukee Parental Choice voucher program.
Aslandogan is the president of the Institute of Interfaith Dialog (a classic Gulenist “dialog” organization) as well as a director of Texas Gulf Institute, a Gulenist college now called North American College. Why Aslandogan may have created the alias “Yuksel A. Conger” at one point is not known.
Aslandogan appeared at an event called “The Gulen Movement” which was sponsored by the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington D.C. in June 2009. He also appeared at an event with Joshua D. Hendrick at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in December 2010 (“Transnational Religious Nationalism in the New Turkey: The Case of Fethullah Gulen.”) Audio and video presentations and accompanying text are available online.
Much more needs to be exposed
There is a long list of highly concerning things about the Gulen movement that 60 Minutes didn’t expose, like its “strategy of seduction” of parents and public officials, their free/inexpensive stealth propaganda trips to Turkey, their building of madrassas and mosques in Albania and South Africa, etc.
The bottom line for me is that NOTHING about the Gulen movement or their schools can be trusted. Watch this video if you want to hear me go into it more (filmed on Saturday, May 12, one day before the 60 Minutes broadcast).

 

 

Leave Fethullah Gulen Alone !! A gulen Cult member rants on !!

Sibel Edmonds & Parent from Gulen Charter School Boiling Frogs Radio

Parent of ex-student of Gulen "inspired" Sonoran Science Academy interviewed on Sibel Edmond's radio show.  Sibel is a former FBI Turkish Translator turned whistleblower.

Gulen Charter School Quest Science Academy Blackstone Karatas

60 minute out takes Bonus Footage Fethullah Gulen Charter Schools

60 minutes Gulen Charter Schools H1-B Visa Fraud Expanded.

Erkal Tülek: Inside The Gulen Education Movement in Turkey And Internat...

Truebright Science Academy A Gulen Charter School denied renewal

Forget it Gulenists, signs, slamming comment boards and lies will not save the schools

Bekir Duz, leaves a trail of lies and causing harm to American Teachers

For the first time in four years, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission on Thursday night began the process of closing city charter schools.

The commission voted to put three schools on notice that their five-year operating charters would not be renewed: Truebright Science Academy, Arise Academy, and Hope.

The district's charter-school office had recommended the actions for all three schools based on problems with academics and administration and failing to meet state requirements, such as having 75 percent certified teachers. Arise was also flagged for its financial instability.

The schools will remain open for the 2012-13 academic year.

SRC Chairman Pedro Ramos stressed that the evening's votes were merely the first steps in a lengthy process that includes public hearings and possible appeals to the state Charter School Appeal Board in Harrisburg.

Ramos late Thursday night also announced a controversial new process that delays and changes the game plan for 22 other charters up for renewal this year and the expansion requests of many others.

Commission members said that although Arise's troubled track record did not merit a new, five-year renewal, they expressed interest in working with the school's new board president and CEO to develop a plan with specific performance targets that would allow the school to stay open.

Arise Academy, which opened in 2009, is in Center City and has 181 high school students. It is the nation's first charter for students in foster care, who have a high risk of dropping out of school.

Hope, which opened in 2002, serves 427 ninth through 12th graders on its campus in West Oak Lane. It has small classes and aims to offer a second chance for students who have not fared well in other schools.

Truebright, which opened in North Philadelphia in 2007, has a special focus on science and technology. It has 307 students from seventh through 12th grade.

As The Inquirer has reported, Truebright is one of more than 130 charter schools nationwide run by followers of Turkish Imam M. Fetullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the Poconos.

Several federal agencies are looking into allegations of kickbacks from Turkish teachers to the Gulen movement at the charters nationwide, according to knowledgeable sources. One-third of Truebright's teachers and administrators are Turkish, and most of them are working in this country on non-immigrant visas.

At least nine of Truebright's American educators have filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging they were paid less than Turkish counterparts who are not certified and who are less qualified.

Truebright officials say the school is independent, not part of any alleged network of Turkish charter schools, and is not under investigation.

During Thursday night's meeting, Truebright's board president, Baki Acikel, and CEO, Bekir Duz, criticized Inquirer articles about Truebright, saying they were unfair and based on "unsubstantiated allegations with little focus on the education students at Truebright receive in a safe, nurturing environment."

Duz issued an "open invitation" for federal authorities to come to Truebright to see its operations for themselves. "We have nothing to hide," he said.

The last time the SRC voted against renewing a charter was in 2008, when the commission gave a thumbs-down to two charters in Northwest Philadelphia: Germantown Settlement and Renaissance Charter School.

After public hearings over several days that summer, the SRC voted to close the schools. The state charter appeals board later upheld the SRC's decisions, and both schools closed in June 2009.

In the current round of renewals, the district's charter-school office had recommended approval for 17 of the 22 other schools and was still reviewing five. Officials from the 17 charters had been expecting the SRC would vote on new five-year operating charters Thursday night.

But in the face of mounting fiscal uncertainty in the district and new legal concerns, the SRC on Thursday night decided to scrap the review process it had used last year for renewals. The new plan focuses on negotiating enrollment caps with the charters, and on recruiting students from neighborhoods with few good education options and from specific schools slated to close.

Read the entire news article here:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20120419_SRC_begins_process_to_shut_3_charter_schools.html

Yet another article:

Truebright Science Academy Charter School in North Philadelphia is one of more than 130 charter schools nationwide run by followers of the Turkish imam M. Fetullah Gulen, and federal officials have put it under a microscope.

Not only are the FBI and the Departments of Labor and Education looking into allegations of kickbacks by Turkish teachers at the charters nationwide, according to knowledgeable sources, but at least nine American teachers and administrators at Truebright have filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. All allege that they were being paid less than noncertified Turkish staffers.

Now the Philadelphia School District's charter office has recommended to the School Reform Commission that it not renew Truebright's five-year operating charter on several grounds, including academic performance, lack of certified staff, and high turnover of administrators. A vote is scheduled for Thursday night.

The school, which enrolls 307 students from seventh grade through high school, gets $3.4 million of its $3.9 million budget this year from the district. Funds from the state and federal government cover the rest. Ninety percent of its students are African American.

The charter school office report does not mention Gulen or note that a third of Truebright's teachers and administrators are from Turkey. Most are working in this country with non-immigrant visas.

Some parents say their children cannot understand their Turkish teachers because their English language skills are deficient. And staffers say the school's operations are shrouded in secrecy, and they risk losing their jobs if they ask too many questions. After The Inquirer reported about federal investigations last year, staffers reported that school officials had shredded documents.

Twenty-five charter schools are up for renewal, and Truebright is one of three the district's charter office says should close.

 103-page rebuttal

Bekir Duz, a Turkish national who is Truebright's chief executive officer, said the school was fighting to remain open. Truebright has sent SRC members copies of a detailed, 103-page rebuttal, disputing the report by the district's charter office.

The rebuttal challenges the low rates of teacher certification and high school graduation cited in the report. It says the school has met the state's academic benchmarks for standardized test scores in two of the last three years. It also disputes district calculations that gave Truebright a score of 9 - the second-lowest on a 10-point school-performance index.

"We believe that we are going to get our renewal, because that report is full of mistakes," Duz said.

The Rev. James W. Wright Sr., president of Truebright's parent teachers association, said he was embarrassed to learn a statement that school officials persuaded him to read at a recent SRC meeting erroneously claimed that 97 percent of the first senior class had graduated last June. In reality, only 33 of the 50 students who started in ninth grade stayed and received diplomas, according to a former administrator.

"We are in the dark in terms of knowing factual information," Wright said. "Until you get transparency . . . and you get a level playing field with these guys, we are still pulling at straws."

Wright said that rather than shuttering the school, the SRC should consider replacing the all-Turkish board or adding six non-Turkish members to provide a wider perspective.

"We're all desirous of keeping the school open, and we need to figure out a way to make this happen," said Wright, whose daughter is in the 10th grade and doing well at the school. "We appreciate the good the school has to offer, yet we know it is not the best. We believe it can be better - with or without the current administration and board."

Located at 926 W. Sedgley Ave., Truebright was opened in 2007 by a group of Turkish professionals as a charter with a special focus on science and technology. Although authorized to enroll 350, the school has struggled to recruit and retain students. On average, 51 students leave each year. The school is open to students across the city, but preference is given to children from the neighborhood

Parents and staff interviewed by The Inquirer want the school to stay open, but many complain that top administrators and the five-member board of Turkish scientists and businessmen who control the school keep them in the dark and provide misleading information.

The Inquirer reported last spring that federal agencies are investigating whether some Turkish charter-school employees are required to kick back part of their salaries to a Muslim movement founded by Gulen known as Hizmet, or Service, according to knowledgeable sources.

They also are trying to determine whether the schools are abusing the H1-B visa program, which has allowed hundreds of Turkish teachers, administrators, and other staffers to work in charter schools.

The visas are used to attract foreign workers, especially with math, science, and technology skills for which there are shortages of qualified Americans.

READ the entire story here:

http://articles.philly.com/2012-04-19/news/31368006_1_charter-school-charter-office-turkish-imam

Milwaukee Schools tied to Turkish Imam, Gulen Charter Schools

CBS' 60 Minutes on Sunday aired a segment about a network of charter schools in the United States that are linked to Fethullah Gulen, a powerful and reclusive Turkish imam who lives in Pennsylvania.

There are about 130 of these charter schools in 26 states, according to the report. And two of them are in Milwaukee, according to this list: the Milwaukee Math and Science Academy, at 110 W. Burleigh St., and Wisconsin Career Academy, 480 S. 2nd St., which has been chartered by Milwaukee Public Schools.

The Milwaukee School Board voted this school year to end its charter agreement with Wisconsin Career Academy, so the school is changing its name to Wisconsin College Preparatory Academy and entering the private Milwaukee Parental Choice Program for the 2012-'13 year, leaders there said recently.

The 60 Minutes segment points out that many of these schools linked to Gulen are high-achieving, and focus on math and science. But it also suggests the operation lacks transparency, and questions why Turkish immigrants linked to a powerful religious leader are building so many schools in the U.S.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/151363985.html#!page=1&pageSize=10&sort=newestfirst

UPDATE ON MILWAUKEE GULEN OPERATED SCHOOLS,
1 TO BECOME PRIVATE
Deny, Deny, Deny-  So what else is new?

 Wisconsin Career Academy leaders deny any official connection to a reclusive Turkish Islamic cleric living in Pennsylvania, and they say they're not sure how their school became associated with the Fethullah Gulen movement.

The denial was in response to a School Zone post that highlighted a recent 60 Minutes segment on publicly funded charter schools connected to Gulen, a charismatic Islamic cleric from Turkey. 

Ali Yalmiz, executive director and principal of Wisconsin Career Academy, 4801 S. 2nd St., did not deny that some of the WCA leaders and staff are from Turkey. The school is ending its charter with Milwaukee Public Schools and will become a private school next school year with the new name Wisconsin College Preparatory Academy.

Charter schools connected to the Gulen movement have received complaints not for their quality - the schools run by Turkish immigrants tend to be high-performing - but for their lack of transparency and for importing hundreds of teachers and administrators from Turkey, according to the New York Times.

Also, the Times investigation questioned whether the schools are using taxpayer dollars to benefit the Gulen movement, "by giving business to Gulen followers or through making financial arrangements with local foundations that promote Gulen teachings and Turkish culture."

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/152292985.html#!page=1&pageSize=10&sort=newestfirst

 why are they "ending" their charter with the public schools?

Quest Academy Principal Denies Connection to Turkish Imam Gulen Charter ...

Engin blackstone is "Engin Karatas"     Kara=Black   Tas = Stone

in 2007 Karatas took a trip with a group of Gulen Followers from the Ohio Schools, one of the other followers was the husband of the former teacher featured on "60 Minutes" 
Shame on Karatas for lying, Shame on Karatas for trying to Americanize his last name.
for more information :
http://www.charterschoolwatchdog.com/

Gulen Charter School in Texas caught in lie by Texas Teachers Association

Noel Candelaria Texas Teachers Association VP- Addresses the lie about a shortage of Math and Science Teachers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KupDguGaeX4&feature=relmfu

Why is Julie Shussler a “spokesperson” for Harmony Science Academy she works for Burson-Marsteller a worldwide fancy PR damage control agency.

julie.shussler@bm.com

not only is American tax money used for their legals defenses, their lobbying it pays for PR, marketing and Advertising. 

Here is more about the inflated waiting list at Harmony Science Academies.  This was posted over 1 year agao.  Stop with the sales job Dr. Soner Tarim and go back to the fish hatchery.

Julie Shussler works for Burson-Marsteller which is a fancy PR damage control agency worldwide?

The 30,000 waiting list is a lie.  Soner Tarim the Superintendent of Harmony cannot keep his lies straight.  When will the State of Texas actually audit this "so-called" huge waiting list that exceeds their state enrollment? 

http://harmonyparenttruth.blogspot.com/2011/02/harmony-science-academy-inflated.html

Gulen School corruption in California by whistleblower

Gulen Charter Schools Preview "60 Minutes" CBS NEWS Lesly Stahl Sunday, May...

WATCH THIS SUNDAY , MAY 13, 2012

Gulen Schools Sign the Act For America Petition - 130 US Gulen-operated charter schools Mirror ...

This organization which operates 130 charter schools in the United States has been violating the civil rights of American teachers and administrators for the past eleven years by blatantly ignoring  federal age, nationality, and gender equal opportunity laws. Further, their practices have supplanted American jobs by bringing in H1-B visa holders instead of hiring qualified and available American teachers and administrators, and all the while using American tax dollars to do so. The American tax payers are not only losing jobs, but are also required to pay for H1-B visa fees  and in many instances graduate degrees for the foreign teachers and administrators.
With unemployment rates still at an all time high, let's ask our government officials why they are still allowing the influx of H1-B visa employees to take American jobs when the United States has a wealth of qualified and credentialed American teachers and administrators
SIGN THE PETITION HERE:

http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-discriminatory-practices-at-us-publicly-funded-charter-schools