Horizon Science Academies sues state of Ohio for loss of grants #ConceptSchools #FBI #SalimUcan

Horizon Science Academy sues Ohio for loss of educational grants from Gulen Cemaat

By Emily Bamforth, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A dozen Horizon Science Academies, part of a series of charter schools in Ohio, are suing over denied Ohio Department of Education grant money, claiming the rules for the grant were changed after the application process. Three Horizon Science Academy Schools are in the Northeast Ohio area, including the Horizon Science Academy of Lorain and Horizon Science Academy Cleveland Middle and High schools. Twelve schools throughout the state are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which names the Ohio Department of Education, Gov. Mike DeWine, the state school superintendent and the director of community schools as respondents. Read the full lawsuit in the document viewer at the bottom of this post. Mobile viewers, click here. The lawsuit, filed in the Ohio Supreme Court, refers to the “Quality Community Schools Support Grant” created through House Bill 166, a state budget bill. Community schools are commonly referred to as charter schools, which are operated as public schools but not controlled by a school district. Horizon Science Academies are open admission. If applications exceed the number of spots, students are chosen through a lottery. Under the grant, qualified charter schools are eligible to receive up to $1,750 each fiscal year for each pupil identified as economically disadvantaged and up to $1,000 each fiscal year for all other students, according to the Ohio Department of Education website. Horizon Science Academies officials applied for the grant, believing the schools met criteria. But, according to the lawsuit, the application was denied because of an additional restriction allegedly not part of the state bill or the application form. The independent school boards running Horizon Science Academies contract with Illinois-based Concept Schools NFP. The lawsuit claims funding was denied because Concept is not registered with the state of Ohio as a foreign corporation. An attached letter in the lawsuit from Office of Community Schools Director Karl Koenig describing the denial reads: “Specifically, Concept Schools NFP is not registered as a foreign corporation with the Ohio Secretary of State’s office and, therefore, is not in good standing in Ohio.” Horizon officials claim that information was not stated as a requirement on the application form and when the schools followed up with the state on the application, that issue did not come up as a concern. Horizon also claims that Concept is registered with the state already. The schools are asking that the state approve the grant applications. Ohio Department of Education officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. The Ohio Department of Education also rejected other schools, including the for-profit Accel Schools chain, because of issues with corporate registrations. In Accel’s case, some schools that failed to meet academic criteria may have qualified for money because other Accel-run schools received a federal grant, according to previous Plain Dealer reporting. The state claimed that the company’s registration did not link operations in Ohio to other Accel-run schools. Some other Concept-run schools qualified for the money by meeting academic criteria. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2020/06/dozen-ohio-horizon-science-academies-sue-ohio-department-of-education-over-denied-grant-funding.html A dozen charter schools, Horizon Science Academies, including the Horizon Science Academy of Youngstown, are suing the Ohio Department of Education over denied grant money, claiming the rules for the grant were changed after the application process. The funds were to be awarded as part of a two-year Quality Community Schools Support Grant (QSF) which recognizes schools that provide quality education to underserved populations. According to the release from Horizon Science Academies, the lawsuit comes as a last-resort effort after the ODE refused to reconsider its improper decision. The twelve schools are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which names the Ohio Department of Education, Gov. Mike DeWine, the state school superintendent and the director of community schools as respondents. Horizon Science's press release said the lack of funding is negatively affecting nearly 4,500 students of the academy. On average, 83 percent of Horizon Science's students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Tim Clements, an attorney with Nicola, Gudbranson & Cooper, said that the Horizon schools met all the criteria of the grant as it was originally intentioned. "The new criterion retroactively used by the ODE, after the HSAs had already applied for the QSF, was not in HB 166 which the Ohio legislature passed when creating the funding," said Clements. "That's why we're claiming that the ODE exceeded its authority under Ohio law when it inappropriately used an undisclosed requirement for HSA's operator to be registered with Ohio's secretary of state to justify denying funding to these 12 schools." The schools’ lawsuit points out that the requirement was never intended by Ohio’s legislature and has nothing to do with the quality education that the HSAs provide to their students. Ohio Department of Education officials has not publicly commented on the lawsuit. https://www.wfmj.com/story/42255343/horizon-science-academy-of-youngstown-suing-ohio-department-of-education

NAACP calls for investigation of all Gulen Charter Schools

Did you know that Muhammed Fethullah Gülen Hocaefendi (pictured), an Imam who exited Turkey and is sequestered in rural Pennsylvania, is operating the second largest affiliated network of charter schools in the United States? (Yes, this is the same Gülen that Michael Flynn allegedly was trying to have extradited from the United States)

In the past I have blogged about the Gülen-affiliated charter schools in the posts Bad Charters, Bad Charters, “Whatcha gonna do when they come for you” and Gulen-affiliated charter schools are bad apples? and Empire of Deceit says charters squandering taxes and violating immigration laws.

When I watched the film Killing Ed, I was skeptical, as I am paid to be. So when I was in Houston to give a talk at Rice University, I ran into a former Gülen Harmony student and asked a few questions.

Q: Was it true that the Gülen schools were populated with many teachers from Turkey who had difficulty speaking English

A: Yes

Q: Was it true that some students didn’t actually do their own science projects as alleged in the film Killing Ed.

A: Yes

I spent more time confirming with the student some of the other allegations about lack of playgrounds, self-dealing, and aberrant behavior from administrators. I was shocked their behavior was being allowed in Texas.

So, I am announcing today, in addition to getting the negative attention they deserve from law enforcement and the media, the California NAACP has now stepped up to the plate with a resolution to call for an investigation of ALL the Gülen charter schools.

RESOLUTION #16 CONCERNING THE IMPACT OF GÜLEN CHARTER SCHOOLS

WHEREAS, there exists over 200 schools in the United States operated by the Gülen Organization, teaching over 80,000 American students. This organization operates under the names Magnolia Science Academy (CA), Horizon Science Academy (OH , IL), Harmony Science Academy (TX), Sonoran Science Academy (AR), Coral Academy of Science (NV), Dove Science Academy (OK), as well as others.

WHEREAS, audits having been conducted in LAUSD, the State of Oklahoma, the State of Georgia (resulting in their closure), the State of New York, have resulted in a pattern of massive accounting irregularities involving without limitation the use of Gülen related landlords such as Terra (NY, NJ), the Sky Foundation (OK), Harmony Public Schools (TX), Concept Schools (IL, OH), the use of Gülen Related Management Companies such as Accord (CA), Concept Education Services (OH), Apple Education (NJ), Terra Science and Education (NY), as well as others.

WHEREAS, Gülen schools; such as Magnolia (CA) have targeted the African American and Hispanic communities as shown in the documentary film Killing Ed.

WHEREAS, all 200 Gülen schools recruit teachers from Turkey under the H – 1B Visa program thereby replacing fully qualified American teachers.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the California NAACP urges federal, state and local authorities to conduct forensic audits of both the schools, and the management organizations operating them.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the California NAACP further urges that these investigations be conducted by state and federal auditors as opposed to state boards of education, as well as other relevant investigations necessary to evaluate fully the apparent, suspect financial dealings, visa misuse, and highly suspicious conduct.

If you want to understand depth, breadth and shocking nature of the alleged malfeasance against Gülen-affiliated charter schools, I highly recommend you check out the film Killing Ed. (Also, check out the Empire of Deceit website) As shown in the film, the Gülen-affiliated charter schools are some of the worst proverbial bad apples in the charter sector.

What is really disconcerting about charter schools is that they stick together like glue no matter the malfeasance shown to them. They use their charter lobbying associations in California, Texas and elsewhere to fervently protect these bad apples regardless of alleged illegal activity. While charter schools, their leaders, and supporters say vehemently in public that they support transparency and accountability, the $$$$$$$ that they spend in legislatures says loudly otherwise.

Incidentally, one of the Gülen-affiliated Magnolia schools petitioning for re-authorization was rejected recently by the LA school board. Although, the LAUSD board did broker a political deal to allow many, many other charters through. However, in the past the LA County board has overruled LAUSD’s local-control to keep the “embattled” Magnolia.

Please stay tuned to Cloaking Inequity for the other education resolutions passed by the California NAACP. Also, here is another controversial resolution we passed at the convention— but right and important. California NAACP seeks to remove ‘Banner’ as anthem, supports Kaepernick

Please Facebook Like, Tweet, etc below and/or reblog to share this discussion with others.

Deep State Gives Muslim Turkish Cleric Fethullah Gulen US Schools

Gulen Islamic operated Charter Schools (Concept Schools) under fire in Ohio for displacing American Teachers with Turkish immigrants

A chain of 19 publicly funded Ohio charter schools, founded by Turkish immigrants, is taking the position that the United States lacks a qualified pool of math and science teachers and is importing perhaps hundreds of Turks to fill the void.

The schools are run almost exclusively by persons of Turkish heritage, some of whom are not U.S. citizens — a new twist in Ohio’s controversial charter-school movement.

In addition, the Horizon and Noble academies, run by Chicago-based Concept Schools, are related through membership, fundraisers and political giving to the nonprofit Niagara Foundation, which provides trips to Turkey for state, local and federal lawmakers.

Among those touring Turkey has been State Rep. Cliff Rosenberger, a Clarksville Republican on the powerful finance and appropriations committee and considered to be a leading candidate for House speaker next year. He was joined on the trip by at least four other state legislators and local government leaders from his area in southwest Ohio.

There have been other trips from Ohio, and in Illinois, there are allegations that state officials who took trips showed favoritism in disbursing public dollars to Concept schools.

Public records show that since late 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor has allowed 19 of these schools in Ohio to hire 325 educators almost exclusively from Turkey.

However, as early as 2002, state audits found thousands of public dollars “illegally expended” to finance the U.S. citizenship process for Turkish employees — some fresh out of college with no classroom experience and broken English. Help with legal and immigration fees also extended to their children and families, including the spouses of directors.

The auditor also cited suspect wire transfers, totaling $36,000, and checks made out to “cash” to repay personal loans issued by individuals in Istanbul, Turkey.

Seeking answers

Three of the Ohio schools have been visited by the FBI as part of a multistate probe. The agency said it is part of a white-collar criminal investigation.

Federal agents have not disclosed details, only that the investigation originated in Cleveland, has spread to Indiana and Illinois, and may or may not be connected to previous investigations at related schools in Baton Rouge, La., and Philadelphia.

Last school year, these Ohio charter schools, called Horizon and Noble Academies, received nearly $50 million in public funding transferred from local school districts where students otherwise would have attended.

At $50 million, Concept is among the larger players in Ohio’s charter-school movement, totaling $914 million last year. For years, charter schools have come under fire for poor academic performance and questionable finances.

Concept, founded in suburban Chicago by Turkish men, manages the Ohio charter schools and 11 others in five Midwest states. Its status as a for-profit or nonprofit under IRS standards is not clear.

Murat Efe oversees Concept operations in northern Ohio. His boss, Sedat Duman, controls the company from Des Plaines, Ill.

Former CEOs of Concept schools control Breeze Inc., a real estate company that owns many of the school buildings. As landlords, they collect rent from the publicly funded charter schools. Breeze shares office space with Concept in a building northwest of Chicago.

A Beacon Journal interview scheduled for June 27 with Efe and Salim Ucan, vice president of the company, was canceled by Concept less than a half-hour before it was to occur.

The Beacon Journal also requested records June 12 seeking taxpayer-funded contracts, emails discussing recent FBI investigations and visa applications filed by the schools.

The records were requested of three Concept administrators and 18 school board members.

Only three, all board members, acknowledged that they received the request. One forwarded it to a principal. The other two passed it along to Efe, who has not responded to repeated attempts to reschedule an interview.

In addition, The News Outlet, a student journalism lab headquartered at Youngstown State University, conducted a survey this spring of 20 school board members at Horizon and Noble academies in Northeast Ohio. Few answers were received.

Better than average

Last school year, Ohio’s Turkish-run schools — which offer the Turkish language and promote themselves as specialized in math and science — enrolled more than 6,700 students.

In Cleveland alone, $12 million was transferred from the municipal school district to Concept schools. Academies also exist in Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Euclid, Toledo and Youngstown.

According to the Ohio Department of Education, the academies’ performance on state tests varies widely from school to school and year to year. In 2013, 12 received D’s, four C’s and three B’s.

Those scores are better than the average Ohio charter school and often higher than most city school districts where they are located, although some have lower graduation rates.

Political connections

In 2012, Secretary of State John Husted visited Horizon Academies in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, then another in Dayton a year later. In the weeks before and after each visit, people who identified themselves as with Horizon, Concept, Noble or Turkish interests donated $5,400 into Husted’s campaign fund.

A spokesman for Husted said the “donations were really received through fundraising events that were publicized and open to the public” and that the secretary “had no conversations” with donors.

Husted, who has been a leading advocate of charter schools for a decade, is pictured on many Concept school websites, smiling with officials and children.

State Rep. Cliff Rosenberger, who could be the next Ohio House speaker, also received $1,850 in 2012.

Three months earlier, Rosenberger joined two other House Republicans and two local officials for a trip to Turkey. The trip, focused on economic development, was paid for by the Niagara Foundation, which also has sponsored dinner at the state capital.

Rosenberger’s office did not answer Beacon Journal requests for information.

Long-distance hiring

Between the fall of 2012 and 2013, the latest year for which numbers are available, the 19 Ohio charter schools sought to import 97 Turkish teachers.

In contrast, Ohio’s public school districts (which enroll roughly 270 times more students) looked overseas only 11 times. More than half of the requests, including one filed by Akron Public Schools, sought Mandarin or Chinese teachers — languages that economists say are in high demand.

Concept Schools, however, pursued visas for 13 Turkish language teachers that year.

To put the hiring practice in perspective, records show that Horizon and Noble academies have attempted to import as many teachers in four years as it would take to staff the state’s largest public high school, with more than 100 teachers to spare.

Former employees allege that Turkish employees generally are paid more than U.S.-born teachers, then asked to contribute as much as 40 percent of their pay to an Islam-based religious movement known as Hizmet that supports interfaith dialog.

The movement is led by Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.

A Beacon Journal review of visa applications indicates that most teachers recruited from Turkey would receive a starting salary of more than $40,000. That’s higher than the salaries of many existing employees whose names do not reflect Middle Eastern heritage, according to pay data kept by the state treasurer’s office.

And, “They’re not qualified,” said Mary Addi, a former teacher at a Horizon middle school in Cleveland.

One state audit supported her contention by finding as many as 20 percent of teachers at one school were not licensed, and nearly half of all treasurers at 19 schools lacked proper credentials.

“American taxpayers are just so ambivalent about all this. Do they know they are paying for all this?” said Addi, whose husband, Mustafa Emanet, has worked for the schools.

“I worked for them. I was one of them,” he said, saying he and his wife were fired then rehired multiple times. Emanet said he was asked to return 40 percent of his salary, which started at $44,000 in 2006.

“They know the system here and they use the system here,” Emanet said.

State audits also show reimbursement to high-level employees for their pursuit of MBA degrees, along with credit card purchases for alcohol, shampoo, Red Bull and other non-school-related goods.

Now, the Ohio Department of Education is probing allegations that grades and attendance records have been tampered. The matter, first investigated in 2012, has been reopened after the department was publicly criticized for taking it easy on the school’s independent sponsor, which in Ohio handles academic and fiscal oversight.

Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com.

 

Gulen Charter Schools Federal investigation expands to 19 schools and 3 states

Turkish news is having a field day with the FBI Raids, here is a photo of Hocaefendi Fetos
imposed infront of photo of  ill-fated Indiana Math and Science Academy

 

The FBI and two other federal agencies conducted raids in Illinois and two other states at charter schools run by Des Plaines-based Concept Schools, FBI officials said Tuesday.

READ MORE about links to Turkish Gulen Movement:

http://politics.suntimes.com/article/chicago/fbi-raids-concept-schools-illinois-2-other-states/tue-06102014-557pm

and here is the article on FBI raid at Quest Charter Academy in Peoria, IL

 PEORIA — Quest Charter Academy was the subject of a multi-state raid last week in an investigation of charter schools run by Des Plaines-based Concept Schools, according to the FBI.

Read more: http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140610/News/140619838#ixzz34RvaComB

 

Gulen charter school Indiana Math and Science Academy FBI raid

Federal agents collected documents from the Indiana Math and Science Academy on Wednesday afternoon under a court-ordered search warrant.

The search warrant was issued by a federal court in Ohio as part of a "white-collar" investigation being conducted by the Cleveland office of the FBI, the U.S. Department of Education and the Federal Communications Commission, according to FBI spokeswoman Vicki Anderson. She could not divulge any other details about the investigation.

Indiana Math and Science Academy is managed by Concept Schools Inc., an Illinois-based organization that manages 30 charter schools. Nine of those schools are in the Cleveland-Dayton area of Ohio.

Concept Schools operates three charter schools in Indianapolis, with combined enrollment of nearly 1,400. The school that was searched in Indianapolis is located at 7435 N. Keystone Ave. It enrolled 591 students in the most recent school year, which concluded last month.

Katherine Beckwith, a spokeswoman for the school, said in a prepared statement that the documents were part of an audit the U.S. Department of Education was conducting of the federal “e-rate” grant program.

The e-rate program provides money to help K-12 schools pay between 20 percent and 90 percent of the cost of phone and Internet service. Participating schools must conduct a competitive bidding process to select the most cost-effective providers of phone and Internet services, according to the U.S. Department of Education, which administers the grant program.

"Earlier this week we were asked to provide information to U.S. Department of Education officials as part of a larger federal audit of e-rate technology grants,” Beckwith said in a statement. “Those officials indicated they are auditing the funds dispersed to various schools to verify that work paid for with e-rate grants was completed as reported. We were happy to provide them with records and supporting materials detailing how e-rate grants were spent at our IMSA North school, so that they can successfully complete their audit."

http://www.ibj.com/federal-agents-seize-documents-at-charter-school/PARAMS/article/48023

 

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/local-news/fbi-investigates-local-charter-school