WILL
CONNECTICUT BE HOME TO THE NEXT GULEN CHARTER SCHOOL?
Note: Over the next few weeks,
Commissioner Stefan Pryor and the Connecticut State Board of Education will be
reviewing and approving applications for new charter schools in Connecticut.
This is the first in a series of posts about some of the applicants for these
publicly funded charter schools.
“Fethullah Gülen is a Turkish author, educator, and Muslim
scholar.” (Wikipedia)
“Fethullah Gulen is a major Islamic political figure in Turkey,
but he lives in self-imposed exile in a Poconos enclave and gained his green
card by convincing a federal judge in Philadelphia that he was an influential
educational figure in the United States.” (Philadelphia Inquirer, March 2011)
“Controversial Muslim preacher, feared Turkish intriguer—and
“inspirer” of the largest charter school network in America.” (City Journal,
fall 2012)
Date Line Connecticut;
On April 7th 2011, Nebi Demirsoy, in his
capacity as President of the Connecticut chapter of the Turkish Cultural Center
– presented Governor Dannel P. Malloy with the Center’s
“Statesman of the Year Award.”
Last year, on March 8, 2012, Nebi
Demirsoy, in his capacity as Executive Director of the Connecticut chapter of
the Peace Islands Institute presented Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of
Education, Stefan Pryor, with the organization’s “Educator of the Year” award.
Other guests in attendance at the March 8th gala included Congressman
Chris Murphy, Governor Dannel Malloy, Speaker of the House of Representatives
Christopher G. Donovan, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin
Ryan and State Board of Education Chairman Allan B. Taylor. Both Governor
Malloy and Commissioner Pryor addressed the audience.
The Peace Islands Institute – CT, the entity giving Commissioner
Pryor the award, is part of a broader organization with offices in New York,
New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
The
Honorary President of Peace Islands Institute is Fethullah Gulen.
In addition to serving as President of the Turkish Cultural
Center and the Executive Director of the Peace Islands Institute, Nebi Demirsoy
also serves as the President of the Putman Science Academy; a Gulen associated
private boarding school located in Putnam, Connecticut.
This year, among the 24 applications submitted to Commissioner
of Education, Stefan Pryor, and the Connecticut State Board of Education for
new state funded charter schools was a charter school application submitted by
Ismail Agirman. The new charter school would be built in New Haven.
Ismail Agirman is the treasurer of Wellspring Cultural and Education
Foundation, Inc.
Bringing the circle to completion, Wellspring is the corporate
entity that operates the Putnam Science Academy.
CAMS – A New Charter School for Connecticut
Calling themselves the Connecticut Academy of Math and Science
(CAMS), Agriman’s application was one of the nine proposals for new charter
schools in Bridgeport, four charter schools in New Haven and two schools in
Hartford and Windham.
Although the State Board of Education does not require support
from local education officials, formal or informal support is considered a
valuable asset. The year before Stefan Pryor was awarded the “Educator of the
Year” award, the Turkish Cultural Center gave their “Education Award” to New
Haven Public Schools Superintendent Reginald Mayo, the New Haven education
official whose support for the new Connecticut Academy of Math and Science
charter school would be invaluable.
In addition, according to the New Haven Independent, two of the
nine members of the proposed Connecticut Academy of Math and Science board of
directors have important political connections; Deputy Speaker of the House
Kevin Ryan and Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins.
Deputy Speaker of the House Kevin Ryan has been connected with
the Turkish Cultural Center for a number of years, having traveled on one of
the Cultural Center’s trips to Turkey.
Meanwhile, Chief Higgins was previously
presented with a Turkish Cultural Center Appreciation Award at an even in July
2010.
What is a Gulen Charter School?
As reported in the New York Times, the Washington Post, 60
minutes, the New Yorker, the New Republic and elsewhere, by successfully
maximizing state charter school laws around the country, there are at least 135
schools, operating in 26 states and enrolling more than 45,000 students that
are associated or affiliated, in one way or another, with the controversial
Turkish Cleric Fethullah Gulen.
As publicly funded charters, these schools pull in over $400
million a year in taxpayer funds.
The total number of schools and the amount of public funds that
they collect make the Gulen charters, as they are often called, the largest
charter school chain in the United States.
Fethullah Gulen’s followers, which often refer to themselves as
a “faith-based, civic society movement,” include about 4 to 6 million people.
While they make up only a fraction of the 74 million Turks, they are considered
one of the most powerful political forces in Turkey.
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