Mayor of Lewiston Gulen inspired school applicant should be investigated...

Published on Nov 26, 2014

LEWISTON, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Lewiston Mayor Robert Macdonald asked for the Maine Attorney General's office to take action against a group that he said lied on its application to build a public charter school in the city.

He said the group has been linked to Turkish Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who has been the inspiration behind at least 120 charter schools throughout the U.S.

The schools are known for high academic achievements, but some are also under investigation for strange financial transactions, hiring teachers from Turkey over U.S. citizens, and spending taxpayer money on moving those Turkish teachers to the U.S.

Mayor Macdonald said when the city looked further into the group's application for a public charter school, they discovered letters of recommendation written by prominent members of the community were forged. The application also left questions about finances, which was a concern when the group applied to build a charter school in Bangor just over a year ago.

Mayor Macdonald said he's tried to contact the Maine Attorney General's office several times to spark an investigation into the group, but he hasn't heard anything in return.

The AG's office said a response letter was sent to Mayor Macdonald on Frida,y but it's possible he hasn't received it yet.
The letter in part says the office is aware of the situation but will need more time to review the information before determining whether a formal investigation should be launched.
http://www.wcsh6.com/story/news/educa...

Proposed Gulen Charter School in Maine fails despite the Gulenists honoring Govenor Paul LaPage

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Turkish_Cultural_Center_Maine_honors_LePage_.html

November 13

Turkish Cultural Center Maine honors LePage

Speakers point to business and education ties and potential as the governor and two others receive awards.

By Noel K. Gallagher ngallagher@pressherald.com
Staff Writer

SOUTH PORTLAND — To expand its economy, Maine must welcome more immigrants, Gov. Paul LePage said Tuesday, praising a new Turkish cultural organization for its work in the state.

 

Gov. Paul LePage gives a speech at the Sable Oaks Marriott in South Portland Tuesday after accepting a leadership award.

Gabe Souza/Staff Photographer

Eyup Sener, left, president of the Turkish Cultural Center Maine, presents Gov. Paul LePage with a traditional Turkish plate after LePage was honored with a leadership award at an annual Friendship Dinner held by the Turkish Cultural Center at the Sable Oaks Marriott in South Portland Tuesday.

Gabe Souza/Staff Photographer

 “It’s time that we here in Maine appreciate and work with other countries to improve our economy,” LePage said as he accepted a leadership award from the Turkish Cultural Center Maine at its first Friendship Dinner, at the Portland Marriott at Sable Oaks.

“It’s important for Maine to grow,” the governor said. “We need to invite (immigrants) to come and live among us.”

Also honored were University of Maine professor Habib Dagher, who heads the school’s Offshore Wind Laboratory, and Maine Deputy Attorney General and Augusta Mayor William Stokes.

“We strongly believe that the friendship and alliance between the United States and Turkey will significantly contribute to the global peace,” said Eyup Sener, president of the Turkish Cultural Center Maine and the New England director of the Council of Turkic American Associations.

The Turkish Cultural Center has existed for only about two years, he said. About 300 people from Turkey are living in Maine, although if Turkic people from many countries in southeastern Europe are counted, that number climbs to about 2,500, Sener said.

Turkey is Maine’s 11th-largest international export destination. According to a U.S. Census report, $11 million worth of goods, ranging from dairy cattle to wood products, were shipped from Maine to Turkey in 2010 to 2011.

Several speakers at Tuesday’s event emphasized the potential for business and educational ties, while spreading a message of peace. Stokes said Augusta is in the final stages of establishing a sister-city relationship with Uskudar, a section or borough of Istanbul.

Several state legislators who attended the dinner have gone on one of the three trips the Turkish Cultural Center has organized for lawmakers to visit Turkey. There also are educational ties between Maine and Turkey.

Sener said his group organized a trip to Turkey this summer for officials from the University of Maine System, and an educational exchange agreement has been signed with officials at the University of Maine at Augusta.

At the K-12 level, a Turkish group is trying to open a charter school in Maine. It would be part of a network of 800 schools operated internationally by followers of a Turkish imam, Fethullah Gulen. The group’s application for a charter school in Bangor was denied in early 2013, and the group has applied again this fall, for a school in the Lewiston area.

Followers of Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, have been involved in starting at least 120 charter schools in 26 states, according to investigations by The New York Times, “60 Minutes,” USA Today and other news organizations. The schools are often top performers and have an entirely secular curriculum, but they have drawn criticism for their lack of transparency, their hiring and financial practices and concerns about their motivation, which experts say has as much to do with shaping the evolution of Turkey as it does with educating young Americans.

A short film on Gulen and his mission was shown at Tuesday’s dinner.

A key organization in Gulen’s network, the New York-based Council of Turkic American Associations, arranged for the Maine legislators’ subsidized trips to Turkey and asked Le- Page to issue an executive order declaring April 3, 2012, the first Turkish Cultural Day in Maine.

Last summer, state Sen. Roger Katz, R-Augusta, Rep. Karen Kusiak, D-Fairfield, and Rep. Dennis Keschl, R-Belgrade, visited Turkey. The three comprise the advisory board for the Turkish Cultural Center Maine.

Katz said Tuesday that he hopes Maine can attract Turkish students to the state university system. He noted that Maine has an aging population that is not very diverse.

“The only way to change that is to become a place that welcomes everyone,” he said.

Senate President Justin Alfond, D-Portland, also said he hopes the ties to Turkey will stimulate trade.

“Maine must be more welcoming,” he said. “There’s no doubt that Maine’s future rests on in-migration.”

Keschl also went on a trip in 2012, along with Sen. Joseph Brannigan, D-Portland; Rep. Jane Knapp, R-Gorham; and Rachel Talbot Ross, president of the NAACP’s Portland branch. Keschl has said that officials from the Council of Turkic American Associations were up front about their ties to Gulen when he questioned them directly.

The council is the regional affiliate of the Washington, D.C.-based Turkic American Alliance, the umbrella organization for the Gulen movement in the United States.

Noel K. Gallagher can be contacted at 791-6387 or at:ngallagher@pressherald.com

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Gulen Charter Schools update, closed, proposed openings...

• 2012-2013: 140 schools in 26 states (59,953 students)
• 2011-2012: 136 schools in 26 states (51,950 students)
• 2010-2011: 126 schools in 25 states (44,727 students)

 

Closed or control transferred to another entity at the end of 2012-2013 (five schools):

 

• California (1): Pacific Technology School – Orangevale (closed)
• Florida (2): Sweetwater Branch Academy and Sweetwater Branch Academy Elementary (closed because of poor school grades and financial trouble)
• Maryland (1): Baltimore IT Academy (indicators that control has been transferred: staff now using @bcps.k12.md.us email instead of @bitacademy.org; website used to be www.bitacademy.org but is now http://www.baltimorecityschools.org/Domain/5027
• Minnesota (1): Minnesota School of Science (closed)

 

 

School replaced (one school)

 

• Arizona (1): Sonoran Science Academy – Peoria (17667 N 91st Ave., Peoria) has replaced Sonoran Science Academy – Phoenix Metro (2645 E. Osborn Rd., Phoenix) on the Sonoran Schools website. Webpage for SSA-Phoenix Metro redirects to SSA-Peoria, a new location 30 mi. away.

 

 

New schools (12 schools)

 

Florida (2)

• Discovery Academy of Science (1380 Pinehurst Rd., Dunedin)
• River City Science Academy – Innovation (3251 Newell Blvd., Jacksonville)

Illinois (2)

• Horizon Science Academy Belmont (5035 W. North Ave., Chicago)
• Horizon Science Academy McKinley Park (2245 W. Pershing Rd., Chicago)

Indiana (1)

• Indiana Math & Science Academy – South (2710 Bethel Ave., Indianapolis)

Massachusetts (1)

• Pioneer Charter School of Science II (planned for Saugus; using temporary location in Everett)

Missouri (1)

• Gateway Science Academy – South (6651 Gravois Ave., St. Louis)

New Jersey (1)

• Paterson Arts and Sciences Charter School (151 East 33rd St., Paterson)

New York (1)

• Utica Academy of Science Charter School (1214 Lincoln Ave., Utica)

South Carolina (1)

• Greenville Renewable Energy Education ("GREEN") Charter School (1440 Pelham Rd., Greenville)

Texas (2)

• Harmony School of Exploration (9305 W. Sam Houston Parkway South, Houston)
• Harmony School of Innovation – Euless (701 S. Industrial Blvd, Suite 105, Euless)

 

Known Gulen charter schools in the works as of 9/14/2013 (eight)

 

Connecticut (1)

• Connecticut Academy of Math and Science: most recent known activity was in January 2013 when a Letter of Intent was submitted to the Connecticut Board of Education

Florida (1)

• Capital City Charter Science Academy: most recent known activity was in August 2013 when an application was submitted to Leon County Schools

Maine (1)

• Lewiston-Auburn Academy Charter School: most recent known activity was in September 2013 when a Letter of Intent was submitted to the Maine Charter School Commission

New York (1)

• Westchester Academy of Science Charter School: most recent known activity was in February 2013 when the Letter of Intent was accepted and the operator was invited to submit its full application

Pennsylvania (4)

• Allentown Engineering Academy Charter School: most recent known activity was in February 2013 when the application was rejected by the Allentown School Board
• Erie Biosciences Academy Charter School: most recent known activity was in February 2013 when the application was rejected by the Millcreek School Board. There were indications that the founders might appeal.
• Young Scholars of McKeesport Charter School: most recent known activity was in March 2013 when the application was rejected by the McKeesport Area School Board. The founders stated that they would appeal.
• Academy of Business & Entrepreneurship Charter School: most recent known activity was in September 2013 when a Letter of Intent was submitted to the School District of Lancaster (SDL). The SDL school board had rejected the charter in March 2013.

 

For additional details about these schools and other past attempts, see Proposed Gulen charter schools, a page by CASILIPS.

http://perimeterprimate.blogspot.com/2013/09/update-on-gulen-charter-schools.html