Another Gulenist sponsored charter school application denied in Gulen's backyard Allentown, Pennsylvania

Exiled Imam Fethullah Mohammed Gulen's "Golden Generation" Compound in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania.  Ironically, Gulen's wet dream is to operate schools worldwide and create a "Golden Generation" one which will be stewards of his neo Ottoman Empire.  Where only the ruling class will be Turkish and the subjects will be Turkified and speak the same language as their masters. 



http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/allentown/index.ssf/2013/02/allentown_school_board_rejects.html

By Colin McEvoy | The Express-TimesThe Express-Times
on February 28, 2013 at 8:50 PM, updated March 01, 2013 at 12:37 PM

For the fourth time in eight years, the Allentown School Board on Thursday unanimously rejected an application to establish a new engineering charter school in the city.

Board members previously expressed concerns about whether the group is associated with a controversial movement led by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

But Superintendent Russell Mayo recommended the charter be rejected not because of any ties to that movement, but due to concerns about its curriculum, budget and lack of community support.

Board member Julie Ambrose praised the charter applicant's desire to create a individualized and safe school setting for its students, but said the academic merits of the application fell short.

"The charter option for students is supposed to be based on academics and provide a unique alternative academic experience that's not otherwise available, but that is sustainable through community support, and unfortunately this did not meet those requirements," she said.

Nobody from the charter application group or the public spoke during the board meeting.

The Allentown Engineering Academy Charter School sought to open at 265 Lehigh St. next year starting with 180 students from grades six to eight, then later expand to all grade levels.

The school board has rejected three engineering school applications since 2005 to establish the engineering charter school, in part because of those applicants' affiliation with the Gülen movement.

The current applicants argued they were not affiliated with those past applications even though all three were also called the Allentown Engineering Academy Charter School.

While the Gülen movement was discussed during a public hearing in December, it was not mentioned at all during Thursday's board meeting.

Mayo recommended rejecting the charter because the curriculum failed to cover core academic topics, and because the proposed budget did not cover necessary teacher training.

He also cited a perceived lack of community support, noting that the district received only five letters of support from individuals or organizations from the Allentown community.

"This application was weak in the area of community support, which is one of the required areas of strength," Mayo said.

Board member Scott Armstrong said the board regrets rejecting any charter, and encouraged the group to come back with a stronger application in the future.

"I think there's a lot of good in this application that I would encourage those advocating for it to pursue further," Armstrong said.

Howard Kurtz, an education consultant who wrote the current application, previously said "very offensive" and "obscene" efforts have been made to falsely tie the application to the Gülen movement.

Kutz said of the 22 members of the current charter foundation coalition, only two were involved in the three previous applications.

The Gülen movement describes itself as a nonpolitical civic movement that preaches religious tolerance and the importance of science in schools without advocating a specific religion. But critics call it a political movement seeking to spread an Islamic dogma, according to a New York Times article.

Contact Allentown reporter Colin McEvoy at 484-894-2549 or cmcevoy@express-times.com.