• • Gulen Schools
• • Shocking Allegations About Ohio Charter Schools Tied to Controversial Turkish Leader
• • CA Charter Schools Linked to Reclusive Turkish Imam Face Closure
• • Exclusive: FBI Whistleblower and Teacher Expose Islamic Gülen Movement Infiltrating U.S. Through Charter Schools
• • Charter Schools Tied to Turkey Grow in Texas

Gulen Charter Schools in the United States

FROM 2012: In the application to the unified school board for his charter schools, Willie Herenton noted that a "strategic alliance has been formed with Harmony Schools, the largest charter school operator in the state of Texas.

"... Harmony Schools will assist the W.E.B. DuBois Consortium with start up and ongoing school operations."

Herenton acknowledged the reference in the application, but said there was no alliance with Harmony.

He included Harmony because he wanted "to impress" Achievement School District Supt. Chris Barbic, who founded the Yes Prep chain of charters in Houston.

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On the heels of an FBI raid of several Horizon-Concept charter schools in Ohio, several former teachers and employees have come forward to make shocking allegations of inflated test scores and falsified attendance records, racist and sexist behavior by Turkish teachers and administrators, and sexual harassment and abuse that went unreported by administrators. At a State Board of Education meeting last week, former employees described not only low educational standards, but also an atmosphere of intimidation - American teachers feared Turkish administrators who fired teachers at the first sign of disloyalty while Turkish teachers were promoted, often despite poor job performance. The charter schools, associated with the Turkish Gülen movement and its controversial leader, Fethullah Gülen, promote Turkish language and culture and many of the schools are known for their academic excellence.

Richard Storrick, who taught at Horizon Science Dayton High School for two and a half years, told members of the state school board about a "sex game" that went on in the middle school classroom of a Turkish teacher, saying that standards differ "whether you are from Turkish descent or of American descent." Storrick said that no action was taken when the director of the school was informed about the game and in fact, the teacher was re-hired the next year and given additional responsibilities.

Storrick also said that Turkish students were treated differently than American students. "If you were a Turkish student, you knew you could get away with misbehavior, including fighting, and be back the next day. Turkish students were permitted to skip class or school with no repercussions," Storrick said. Turkish teachers called African American students "dogs" and "monkeys." Another teacher at the same school, Timothy Neary added, "Racism was an issue. Black kids would be disciplined much more severely than Turkish students. If there was a fight in school, the Turkish students would be back the next day. Many of the black students would get severe consequences." He also said that sexism was a problem. "It was almost gross how they'd talk to women. They'd tell them to not talk or cut them off in midpoint," Neary said, adding that the majority of teachers fired were women.

Kelly Kochensparger, who served as the Dayton charter school's public communications director in addition to her teaching duties, said that middle school students were caught on tape engaging in oral sex. School administrators notified neither the parents nor the authorities, preferring to focus on maintaining the school's positive image instead, she said.

Matt Blair, a former teacher at the Horizon Academy in Dayton, alleged that there was cheating on state achievement tests. "School officials were filling in bubbles on standardized tests. They claimed that it was because students didn't fill in circles dark enough." Richard Neary, who taught at the same school said, "Even though standardized tests are supposed to be taken and locked in a secure place, that did not always occur, if ever." Neary added, "All the tests would go into one room, with one Turkish administrator behind a locked door and nobody would ever see the tests again." Board member Mary Rose Oakar noted that most of the Concept schools had very high test scores. "If would be very disturbing if there was cheating going on to get these ratings," she said.

Neary also said he suspected the school was falsifying attendance records. "School administrators clearly lied about attendance. I can honestly tell you never once did I have a full classroom with my roster with every single student, yet they reported to you a 97% attendance rate," he said. "I guess that's an easy one to fudge."

State Senator Peggy Lehner (R-Kettering), who was in attendance at the state school board meeting, asked what percentage of the teachers were Turkish, noting that she had never seen any during her visits to the schools. One of the teachers explained, "They come over on visas that say they need to teach math and science. Yet they're teaching gym, they're treasurers, they're administrators, they're guidance counselors, they're IT. Since when did we have a lack of gym teachers in the state of Ohio?" he asked. One teacher explained, "Sometimes they hide behind - I'm being honest - in closets that are made into offices. So no, you wouldn't have seen them. And many times when people - dignitaries - come in and things like that , they would ask one of [the American teachers] to be the hand shakers and introduce people and talk."

The Akron Beacon Journal recently reported that, "Ohio charter schools mangaed [sic] by Concept Schools, an Illinois company founded by Turkish men, have attempted to import 381 teachers, arguing that Ohio's workforce lacks highly qualified educators. Two-thirds of these applications have been approved. Most requests, 216, are for foreign science and math teachers. Another 37 would be filled by Turkish language teachers." Public records show the teachers are coming almost exclusively from Turkey. During that same time period, Ohio's entire traditional public school system only sought 11 visas from overseas, most of them seeking Mandarin or Chinese teachers. State audits dating back to 2002 show 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 limited English skills.

Last month the U.S. Department of Education and the Federal Communications Commission joined forces with FBI agents in Cleveland to search 19 locations owned by Concept Schools, saying they are investigating the charter schools for "white collar crimes."

The investigations are clouded by the fact that charter schools are a hot-button issue in Ohio and the debate will be highly politicized in an election year - teachers unions and many newspapers in Ohio, including the Beacon Journal, have been constant critics of charter schools, complaining that the schools are not properly regulated. They also complain that Horizon-Concept school employees and groups associated with the schools have contributed to the campaigns of several prominent Republicans in the state, actively courting their favor - even sponsoring trips to Turkey to promote their agenda to Republican lawmakers. One of the teachers who testified at the State Board of Education meeting last week appeared with the Democrat running for state auditor on Monday to criticize the Republican state auditor for not acting on earlier allegations of misconduct. Former Horizon teacher Matt Blair, who also testified last week, is a member of the Ohio Education Association, the state's largest teacher's union. Progressive groups and teachers unions are using the investigations to call for more oversight of charter schools across the state.

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Written by Rick Cohen   Created on Wednesday, 23 July 2014 13:53

A fiscal audit of two Los Angeles charter schools for fiscal mismanagement has led to concerns about the two charter schools' parent organization. The audit led to the closing of Magnolia Science Academy-6 and Magnolia Science Academy-7 for reasons, according to L.A. Unified district, that included "a number of irregularities." However, the audit also apparently revealed that the charters' parent, Magnolia Public Schools, may itself be insolvent.

The news about the two Magnolia schools in Los Angeles has been noticed by other localities that host Magnolia charters. The Santa Clara County Office of Education last year renewed a charter petition for a Magnolia school outside of Cupertino, but is now concerned. "We will pay attention to this-we wouldn't want to find out that our [Magnolia charter] school would have to close because other [Magnolia] schools are in trouble," said Don Bolce, Santa Clara's director of special projects. "We recognize that with a charter school that is part of a charter management organization, a problem at one school could impact other schools - if there is a problem, it endangers the system." Magnolia's charter school in Santa Ana, according to L.A. School Report, "has been of concern to school and county officials in Orange County despite winning approval for $18 million in facilities bond money."

The Magnolia charter school system has had its ups and downs over the years, with some schools closed in other districts. But the 11 operating Magnolia schools, including eight in the Los Angeles Unified School District, are not ordinary charter schools, assuming there is any such thing. A Turkish newspaper, the Daily Sabah, indicates that the Magnolia schools are affiliated with a Turkish movement called the Gülen Movement. A website for the Gülen movement, also called "Hizmet," describes the movement as "a faith-inspired, non-political, cultural and educational movement whose basic principles stem from Islam's universal values, such as love of the creation, sympathy for the fellow human, compassion, and altruism," establishing schools and universities around the world to carry out the beliefs of Gülen.

The Daily Sabah, supportive of Turkish government authorities, has a much more negative characterization of Gülen.

"The movement is led by a controversial imam living in rural Pennsylvania in self-imposed exile, who is at odds with the Turkish government over the influence he wields inside the Turkish police forces and top judiciary. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently requested the extradition of Fethullah Gülen both privately and publicly from the Obama administration and accused Gülen of plotting a judicial coup against the Turkish government before the local elections last March."

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In rural Pennsylvania, a Turkish-born Muslim imam lives in self-imposed exile.

The imam, Fethullah Gülen, came to the United States in 1999 due to cited health problems and has stayed in the United States after gaining his visa with help from former CIA officials. The FBI previously resisted granting permanent residency status to Gülen. According to leaked cables, parts of the U.S. government believe that Gülen "is a 'radical Islamist' whose moderate message cloaks a more sinister and radical agenda."

In an interview with 60 Minutes, Gülen followers claim that he does not control or have anything to do with the day-to-day dealings of the massive network of charter schools he helped found.

Gülen-inspired schools are the largest charter network in the U.S. and receive approximately $150 million a year in taxpayer money. There are about 130 of these charter schools in 26 states where the majority of the teachers are from Turkey, as well as many of the contracts for construction and operation have gone to Turkish businesses. Those actions have raised red flags for the U.S. government.

The schools themselves are considered high quality and are focused on STEM-based learning - something that proponents of the Gülen Movement claim is lacking in U.S. education.

According to 60 Minutes, in Turkey, Gülen schools are everywhere and considered the best. But recently Turkey passed a law to shut down Gulen schools, a main source of the movement's revenue.

Why Are My Tax Dollars Funding an Islamic Movement?

In the United States, many of the Gülen schools have long waiting lists. But that comes at a price for our American teachers:

"Our tax dollars are paying for them to come over here and take our jobs," said Mary Addi, a teacher. "They want to give you the impression that they're just hard-working guys over here to try and educate our kids, because American teachers are just too stupid."

According to Addi, those Turkish teachers' visa applicants oddly include English teachers. Gülen brings in foreign teachers and then takes a cut of their salary. She learned this after marrying a Turkish teacher. She said that after he was paid. He'd cash the check and return 40% of his salary back to the school for a secret fund used by the movement.

These allegations have caused the U.S. government to investigate for immigration fraud as well as misuse of taxpayer money. It has also caused many to wonder about the actual intent of the Gülen school.

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By STEPHANIE SAUL

Published: June 6, 2011

TDM Contracting was only a month old when it won its first job, an $8.2 million contract to build the Harmony School of Innovation, a publicly financed charter school that opened last fall in San Antonio.

It was one of six big charter school contracts TDM and another upstart company have shared since January 2009, a total of $50 million in construction business. Other companies scrambling for work in a poor economy wondered: How had they qualified for such big jobs so fast?

The secret lay in the meteoric rise and financial clout of the Cosmos Foundation, a charter school operator founded a decade ago by a group of professors and businessmen from Turkey. Operating under the name Harmony Schools, Cosmos has moved quickly to become the largest charter school operator in Texas, with 33 schools receiving more than $100 million a year in taxpayer funds.

While educating schoolchildren across Texas, the group has also nurtured a close-knit network of businesses and organizations run by Turkish immigrants. The businesses include not just big contractors like TDM but also a growing assemblage of smaller vendors selling school lunches, uniforms, after-school programs, Web design, teacher training and even special education assessments.

Some of the schools' operators and founders, and many of their suppliers, are followers of Fethullah Gulen, a charismatic Turkish preacher of a moderate brand of Islam whose devotees have built a worldwide religious, social and nationalistic movement in his name. Gulen followers have been involved in starting similar schools around the country - there are about 120 in all, mostly in urban centers in 25 states, one of the largest collections of charter schools in America.

The growth of these "Turkish schools," as they are often called, has come with a measure of backlash, not all of it untainted by xenophobia. Nationwide, the primary focus of complaints has been on hundreds of teachers and administrators imported from Turkey: in Ohio and Illinois, the federal Department of Labor is investigating union accusations that the schools have abused a special visa program in bringing in their expatriate employees.

But an examination by The New York Times of the Harmony Schools in Texas casts light on a different area: the way they spend public money. And it raises questions about whether, ultimately, the schools are using taxpayer dollars to benefit the Gulen movement - by giving business to Gulen followers, or through financial arrangements with local foundations that promote Gulen teachings and Turkish culture.

Harmony Schools officials say they scrupulously avoid teaching about religion, and they deny any official connection to the Gulen movement. The say their goal in starting charter schools - publicly financed schools that operate independently from public school districts - has been to foster educational achievement, especially in science and math, where American students so often falter.

"It's basically a mission of our organization," said Soner Tarim, the superintendent of the 33 Texas schools.

The schools, Dr. Tarim said, follow all competitive bidding rules, and do not play favorites in awarding contracts. In many cases, Turkish-owned companies have in fact been the low bidders.

Even so, records show that virtually all recent construction and renovation work has been done by Turkish-owned contractors. Several established local companies said they had lost out even after bidding several hundred thousand dollars lower.

"It kind of boils my blood a little bit, all the money that was spent, when I know it could have been done for less," said Deborah Jones, an owner of daj Construction, one of four lower bidders who failed to win a recent contract for a school renovation in the Austin area.

Harmony's history underscores the vast latitude that many charter school systems have been granted to spend public funds. While the degree of oversight varies widely from state to state, the rush to approve charter schools has meant that some barely monitor charter school operations.

In Washington, concern is growing. A number of charter schools across the country have been accused of a range of improprieties in recent years, from self-dealing on contracts to grade-changing schemes and inflating attendance records to increase financing.

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The recent FBI raid at the Des Plaines headquarters of Concept Schools focused on many of the politically connected charter-school operator's top administrators and companies with close ties to Concept, according to federal documents obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Authorities last month said FBI agents carried out raids at 19 Concept locations in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio as part of an "ongoing white-collar crime matter" but declined to provide further details of their investigation.

Copies of the search warrants that FBI agents served in Des Plaines and a subpoena seeking records show investigators went hunting for a wide range of documents pertaining to Concept president Sedat Duman, founder Taner Ertekin and other current and former executives of the fast-growing charter network.

The investigators also sought documents about companies that were hired by Concept to perform work under the federal "E-Rate" program, which pays for schools to expand telecommunications and Internet access.

Concept is linked to the Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, and has developed strong relationships with many local politicians, including state House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago).

Four of Concept's 30 publicly financed schools are in Illinois, including the 600-student Chicago Math and Science Academy in Rogers Park and two campuses that opened a year ago in the Austin and McKinley Park neighborhoods. Chicago Public Schools officials approved another two Concept schools on the South Side for the 2014-15 school year.