Gulen Politicians Senator John McCain visits Science Fair

The Gulenist propaganda is at it again.  With their cameras and videos ready, they are always snapping photos of politicians with their students or schools (as if politicians support their school)  Little does the Gulenists know, that the politicians are using them as much for photo opportunity with students it makes them look good.  Until they find out it is a Gulen operated and managed school.

Most politicians are finding out about the Gulenist propaganda and political, academia and media manipulations.  Pictures don't mean that politicians endorse you, it means nothing.  Even your paltry campaign contributions don't matter any more. More and more politicans every day are speaking out against your manipulation.  Even a free trip to Turkey doesn't matter. 

http://sonoranscienceparents.org/2011/07/13/senator-john-mccain-greets-sonoran-science-academy-national-history-day-winners/

Rick Perry Turkey Run By 'Islamic Terrorists' Fethullah Gulen Charter Sc...

Political Motivations of the Gulen Movement (Hizmet) in the USA

We often hear the Gulencis that will admit to being a part of the Movement as saying "our only goal is to spread love, peace and tolerance through education" "we are not a political movement"

The reality is the Gulen Movement aka Hismet (Service) or Cemaat is political, social and a commerce controlling Cultlike group that has threads of organized crime in it.  They are big on their dialog foundations where they rope in local academia, politics, media and religious leaders to speak or give a bull shit award for humanity.  This also is coupled with a free trip to Turkey and other honorary awards that makes the receipant more vulnerable to promoting the Gulen schools and business in the USA.

Additionally almost every state in the USA now has a state proclamation claiming "Turkey is a friend and ally of the USA, we are the land of love, tolerance to all minorities (leave out the part about killing Kurdish Alevis and Christian minorities) with a rich diverse history.  These state proclamations can be found at http://www.Turkishinvitations.weebly.com

The Turkish Chamber of Commerce, the Turkic American Alliance (TAA) all work together with the multi layers of local and state operated Gulen foundations or institutes.  They are big on giving parties, gifts and they know that American politicians can easily be bribed.  (Follow the history of former poltiticians that have accepted their gifts Jean Schmidt and John McGee).

The Gulen Movement then has support from their media empire, ERBU TV, Today's Zaman and other outlets to promote this.  As well as the Gulenist operated businesses like Turkish Airlines, Godiva Chocolate, etc.,


President of Turkic American Alliance (TAA) Faruk Taban with President Obama at the White House Ramadan Dinner which was hosted by the other Gulen Turkish Lobbying group in Washington the Rumi Forum.  This Ramadan Dinner replaced the "Day of Prayer"

Faruk Taban with Vice Presdent Biden and Mrs. Biden at the Ramadan Dinner White House

Last years Turkic American Alliance Conference with American and Turkic politicians, businesses and leaders.  They were treated to erbu paintngs and Turkish food and seminars on why they should all be dealing with Turkic businesses.  Visably present were many known members of the Gulen Organizations and their wives which hosted this event. 

Faruk Taban is the national president of the Turkic American Alliance (TAA) which is hosting a huge party in Washington DC, that will include many members of Congress, Senate and big American companies hoping for a chance to do business with the Gulen controlled businesses in Turkic countries.  The Turks know that money gets them into the hearts and minds of the American Politicians.

SEVGİ AKARÇEŞME, İSTANBUL

The Turkic American Alliance (TAA), the largest national Turkic organization in the US, is to hold its third annual Turkic American Convention in Washington, D.C., on March 12-13 in cooperation with the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON).

Prior to the convention, leading policymakers from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will discuss issues focusing on energy, trade and regional development in a daylong forum.

According to Faruk Taban, the president of the TAA, which represents six regional federations and over 200 community associations, cultural centers, business associations and education institutions in the US, the main goal of the convention is to elevate the importance of the Turkic diaspora in the US. Taban, who has met President Barack Obama several times in the last 18 months, believes that such meetings signal the importance that is given not only to the TAA as an institution, but the Turkic world as a whole.

Talking about the success of the TAA's previous two conventions in terms of the interest they sparked, Taban says this year there are indicators that attendance will be even higher. He emphasized that the TAA has invited the representatives of both the governing and opposition parties in Turkey to reflect the diversity of the country to the US.

TUSKON President Rızanur Meral, whose organization is partnering with TAA to host the convention, says the goal of the gathering is to raise awareness on the importance of US-Turkish relations and explore opportunities in the field of energy and trade in Turkey. He also noted that Turkey's economic relations with the US are short of their potential and that by supporting the convention, TUSKON hopes to create momentum in bilateral economic cooperation. "TUSKON gives great importance to ties with the US," Meral added.

The program is expected to host ministers and politicians from Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and ambassadors of the countries that have representation in the TAA. The event, which will host panel discussions with participants from seven countries, is sponsored by Ziraatbank, Halkbank, SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic), Today's Zaman, Turkish Airlines (THY) and Turkish Review.

Last year, 59 members of the US Congress including eight senators were among the over 700 guests at the convention. Taban said the TAA expects a larger representation from Congress this year.

Source: Today's Zaman 24 February 2013

Tags: USA, TUSKON,

MORE ON THE TURKIC AMERICAN ALLIANCE GROUPS THROUGHOUT THE USA

 

http://turkishinvitations.weebly.com/turkic-american-alliance-member-organizations.html

 

 

Gulen losing support in America, Sign PETITION to stop Gulen in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County

 

 

https://www.change.org/petitions/school-district-of-lancaster-pa-oppose-the-academy-of-business-and-entrepreneurship-charter-school

There is currently an application before the Board of School Directors for the School District of Lancaster for a new charter school: the Academy of Business and Entrepreneurship Charter School (ABECS). The ABECS proposal offers an alternative education for kindergarten through fourth grade students in the District. This application is a second attempt by Mr. Sait Onal and others to establish a charter school in the School District of Lancaster. The first application, for the Lancaster Science Academy, was rejected by the school board in 2008. The hearing for the current application is Tuesday, February 19, and any interested community members are strongly encouraged to attend.

After reviewing the application for the proposed Academy of Business and Entrepreneurship Charter School, it appears that the proposed curriculum is poorly-designed and that the Academy administrators offer no clear means for the proposed school to achieve AYP as promised.

Additionally, their base of community supporters includes numerous instances of cronyism and overstatement. For example:

>A letter of support from Lutheran Refugee Services is being withdrawn. The original letter of support was issued and signed by the lead applicant's wife, Selma Onal.

> A letter of support from Economics Pennsylvania is being withdrawn

> A letter of support from Free Enterprise, Inc. is being withdrawn.

> A letter of support from Harrisburg Community College is being withdrawn "based on the ongoing public scrutiny and concerns regarding allegations of the organization"

> A letter of support from MUDI Farm Export is signed by the applicant, Sait Onal

> A letter of support from Transamerica is issued from the agency office managed by Sait Onal and is signed by an individual who is presumably Mr. Onal's subordinate.

> Additional letters of support come from Godiva Chocolate in Reading and Etimine USA in Pittsburgh. These letters promise the opportunity for "job shadow days" and "summer internships" at their respective locations for the charter school's kindergarten through fourth grade students.

> One Community Board Member, Laura Binkley, is listed as an employee of Huntington Learning Center in Lancaster. Huntington Learning Center no longer operates in Lancaster.

> One former Community Advisory Board member, when told she was listed as such on their website, responded by saying, "I'm on their website?" She subsequently advised them that she was not to be considered a member of their Community Advisory Board and ensured that her name was removed from their site.

These aspects of their application speak to our larger concern regarding the applicants' lack of transparency and honesty.

Furthermore, there is an absence of truly local community support. Of the fifteen individuals comprising their Founding Board and Advisory Board, we believe that half or more of these individuals live outside of the School District of Lancaster.

Moreover, we do not believe that this charter school application serves an otherwise unmet need in the School District of Lancaster. There is little about their curriculum that is innovative, the concerns about their ability to deliver quality education are significant, and the applicants' true motives appear questionable. We have great concern about exposing any students, especially K-4 students, to the risk of five years of substandard education.

We urge the Board of School Directors for the School District of Lancaster to reject the application for the Academy of Business and Entrepreneurship Charter School.

To:
Board of School Directors, School District of Lancaster

We believe that the curriculum for the proposed Academy of Business and Entrepreneurship Charter School is poorly-designed and that the Academy administrators offer no clear means for the proposed school to achieve AYP as promised.

We do not believe that this charter school application serves an otherwise unmet need in the School District of Lancaster. There is little about their curriculum that...

We believe that the curriculum for the proposed Academy of Business and Entrepreneurship Charter School is poorly-designed and that the Academy administrators offer no clear means for the proposed school to achieve AYP as promised.

We do not believe that this charter school application serves an otherwise unmet need in the School District of Lancaster. There is little about their curriculum that is innovative, the concerns about their ability to deliver quality education are significant, and the applicants' true motives appear questionable. We have great concern about exposing any students, especially K-4 students, to the risk of five years of substandard education.

We urge you to oppose the Academy of Business and Entrepreneurship Charter School application.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

---

The Academy of Business & Entrepreneurship Charter School would be an attractive alternative to conventional schools, giving students the financial background and business smarts they need to succeed in a "technology-driven, globally connected" world, backers said.

Opponents attacked the caliber of the school's curriculum, saying it offers nothing new and would be inappropriate for children as young as 5 years old. They also raised concerns the school may be affiliated with a network of U.S. charter schools linked in published reports to a Turkish Muslim movement.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/803790_School-District-of-Lancaster-eyes-charter-school.html#ixzz2ICQKgMhG

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Despite Maine Politicians free trip to Turkey, Gulen Charter School Application DENIED in Maine

Maine Politicians had a moment of good sense after they took the FREE trip supplied by one of the many Gulen NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations)  We are told the Gulen Lobbyists are all over Capitol Hill and making the rounds at the state level.
More State wide proclaimations honoring Turkey's peace, love and tolerance (despite having the most jailed journalists in the world) can be found at
http://www.turkishinvitations.weebly.com

Now the article.  

http://www.pressherald.com/news/proposed-charter-school-linked-to-turkish-imam_2013-02-17.html

Proposed Bangor charter school linked to Turkish imam

But Maine's commission rejected the Bangor plan over financial issues, its chairwoman says.

By Colin Woodard cwoodard@pressherald.com
Staff Writer

A proposed charter school to be based in Bangor is tied into an informal worldwide network of religious, cultural and education institutions operated by followers of a controversial and reclusive Turkish imam, Fethullah Gulen.

The Queen City Academy Charter School was one of four proposed taxpayer-financed charter schools whose applications were denied last month by the state charter school commission, but the school intends to reapply at a future date.

Followers of Gulen, who lives in exile on a secluded compound in the Poconos of 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. Their 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 ultimate motivation, which experts say has as much to do with shaping the evolution of Turkey as it does with educating young Americans.

Gulen is an intriguing figure, a voice for moderate Islam, an opponent of terrorism and a champion of the impressive cultural, educational and scientific legacy of the Ottoman Empire, which collapsed in the aftermath of World War I and spawned the modern states of Turkey, the Balkans and much of Central Asia and the Middle East.

But his sprawling worldwide network of followers is also the subject of concern within the U.S. diplomatic community; a feared and powerful force in Turkey; and the target of investigations into the possible abuse of U.S. visa programs and the taxpayer money that flows into the charter schools they have founded. The movement's charter schools have been criticized in other states for their founders' evasiveness about the philosophical and institutional links they have to what is known in Turkey as Gulenism.

"They claim that these charter schools are independent and have no connection to the Gulen movement, and I said to them: 'That's baloney,' " said William Martin, senior fellow in religion and public policy at Baker Institute of Rice University in Texas, where Gulen followers have set up dozens of charter schools.

Martin has followed the movement for years, traveled to Turkey at their expense, and counts its leaders there as friends. "I say to them: 'Look, there's nothing wrong with your saying that you are admirers and followers of Mr. Gulen, and to say this is what he stands for and this is what you stand for,' but they say that their lawyers have said they shouldn't be open about it."

LINKED INTO THE MOVEMENT

The central figure behind the proposed Bangor charter school, construction company owner Murat Kilic of Revere, Mass., deflects questions about ties to Gulen as unimportant.

"Individuals might be inspired by him, but what their background is and what they are inspired by, I think that's a little bit irrelevant," said Kilic, who helped found several Gulen-linked organizations in the Bay State. "Yes, I have read a few books of Mr. Gulen and met with him two times, but I have also met (former President) Clinton. At the end of the day, it's how the board carries forth the mission of the charter school that's important."

Over the past year, Gulen's followers have been active in Maine on several fronts. A key organization in the Gulen network -- the New York-based Council of Turkic American Associations -- organized a subsidized nine-day trip to Turkey for three state legislators last summer and persuaded Gov. Paul LePage to issue an executive order declaring April 3, 2012, to be the first annual Turkish Cultural Day in Maine.

State Sen. Joseph Brannigan, D-Portland, state Rep. Dennis Keschl, R-Belgrade, and their spouses took the subsidized trip, along with state Rep. Jane Knapp, R-Gorham, and Rachel Talbot Ross, president of the NAACP's Portland branch, according to Keschl, who said CTAA officials were up front about their ties to Gulen when he questioned them directly.

CTAA -- which is active in Maine as the Turkish Cultural Center of Maine -- is the regional affiliate of the Washington, D.C.-based Turkic American Alliance, the umbrella organization for the Gulen movement in the United States.

Its membership has included charter schools, including the Pioneer Academy Charter School in Everett, Mass., on which the proposed Queen City Academy in Bangor is explicitly modeled.

Kilic, the lead author of the Bangor school's application, helped found Pioneer Academy and two other Gulen organizations, the Boston Dialogue Foundation and Ace It, which operates as the Turkish Cultural Center in Boston, according to federal tax filings. The proposed school's board secretary Alper Kiziltas, a doctoral student at the University of Maine, is Maine outreach coordinator for CTAA.

Another Queen City board member, Patricia Perane of Hanover, Mass., serves on the Pioneer school's board.

The real motivation of the Gulen movement -- charter schools and all -- is to accumulate political and financial resources to further the transformation of Turkey itself, according to Joshua Hendrick, assistant professor of sociology and global studies at Loyola University in Maryland and perhaps the leading U.S. scholar of Gulen. He noted the ongoing ascent of a center-right in that country, which is "pro-capitalist, democratic, socially conservative and believes a revival of faith is good for national development."

"It's unfortunate that we have this rise of Islamophobia because it takes people's eyes off the ball for a legitimate critique that has to do with teachers' concerns about suspect hiring practices or school boards' concerns about suspect financial dealings and governance issues," Hendrick said. "The real questions are: 'Where do you buy your desks and chairs? Who supplies your books? How are people hired and promoted?' ... It has nothing to do with stealth jihad."

'A CULTURE OF STRATEGIC AMBIGUITY'

One of the main criticisms of the Gulen movement is its lack of transparency, but outside of the public spotlight, followers can be quite open about their inspiration and philosophical mission.

Take Keschl's experience. The Maine legislator said all of his colleagues received an invitation from CTAA's New England regional coordinator, Eyup Sener, to take part in the subsidized trip, with participants responsible for less than half the $3,300 estimated per-person cost. The invitation made no mention of Gulen, but participants were to visit numerous Gulen-affiliated institutions in Turkey, including the Zaman newspaper, Fetih University, the Kimse Yok Mu anti-poverty organization and several Turkish charter schools run by his followers.

While considering the invitation, Keschl, who has a military intelligence background and was posted in southern Turkey in the late 1990s, did some research himself on receiving the invitation and quizzed his would-be hosts on what seemed to be an obvious connection to the Gulen movement.

"When we began exchanging emails about the issue, that all came out," Keschl said. "Gulen is the initiator of this and his belief in education and cultural exchange stems way back. They were very up front about that. They didn't say (in their invitation), 'Oh, and Gulen is the reason we're doing it,' but when we started looking into the possibility, they didn't try to hide it."

Keschl, like Martin in Texas, said he went to Turkey with open eyes, and was impressed with what the movement had accomplished in Turkey. He later submitted a letter of support for the Queen City Academy Charter School and said it would likely do a good job educating children.

But followers are not always as up front.

In a written statement, Sener, CTAA's regional coordinator, said his organization has "no relationship" with the Queen City Academy, the Pioneer school or "any other charter school."

No schools are currently listed as CTAA members on the organization's website, but an examination of older images of the Turkic American Alliance website captured by the Internet Archive in 2011 lists three Northeastern private schools as CTAA members: Connecticut's Putnam Science Academy, the Pioneer Academy of Science in New Jersey and the Amity school in Brooklyn. It also included an organization of which Queen City's Kilic was founding president: the Turkish Cultural Center in Boston.

Asked about the nature of the council's relationship to Gulen, Sener wrote: "Some of the board members and founders may or may not be inspired by his teachings. I can't measure all the people's inspirations."

Hendrick said Gulen's network has developed "a culture of strategic ambiguity" wherein it avoids answering direct questions about how its component parts relate to one another.

"If they can maintain ambiguity and leave people never really able to pinpoint who is what, it allows them flexibility to adapt and adjust to local conditions," Hendrick said. This evasiveness served Gulenists well during the 1970s and 1980s in Turkey, he said, where they were among the many targets of the country's surveillance apparatus. "The organizational strategies of the movement are the product of an environment where secrecy and non-transparency are not only perfectly rational and understandable but a neccessity."

Nonetheless, Jana LaPoint, chairwoman of the charter commission, said her group quickly became aware of the applicants' connections to Gulen and that it did some research into the imam and his network. Ultimately, however, the decision to reject the school's application last month had nothing to do with the ties to Gulen, because "the effect on education would have been speculative," she said. "For us it was the financials that were really very, very off," she said, noting that the school assumed it would receive a federal grant it had yet to apply for.

"We were absolutely aware of the ties," she said, "and we looked into Gulen as best we could."

Kilic said they planned to resubmit their application.

A CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE

Born in Turkey sometime between 1938 and 1942, Gulen has been living in the United States since 1999, when he faced charges that he was plotting to overthrow the Turkish state. Although he was acquitted of all charges in 2006, he has continued to live in Pennsylvania, and has permanent resident status here.

He continues to exercise considerable influence in Turkey. Last April, The New York Times reported from Istanbul that his followers had "provided indispensable support to the conservative, Islam-inspired government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan" and were thought to be proliferating within the country's police and judiciary. "A culture of fear surrounding the so-called Gulenists, however exaggerated, is so pronounced that few here will talk openly about them on the telephone fearing that their conversations are being recorded and that there will be reprisals."

In recent years, Gulen's activities in the United States prompted concern among consular officers at U.S. diplomatic posts in Ankara and Istanbul, as large numbers of visa applicants appeared "seeking to visit a number of charter schools in the U.S. with which consular officials were unfamiliar," according to a leaked May 2006 cable sent by the Istanbul consulate and published by Wikileaks.

After further investigation and thousands of interviews, the confidential cable stated, consular officials "complied a substantial list of organizations that seem in some way affiliated with Gulen" including "over thirty science academies (set up as charter schools) in the U.S." and 22 educational consultancies and foundations in the U.S..

Visa applicants the consular staff believed to be affiliated with Gulen's movement were "generally evasive about the purpose of their travel to the United States and usually denying knowing or wanting to visit Gulen when questioned directly" though many later reversed themselves on the latter point after "very direct questioning."

Most were unable to provide a straightforward answer as to the source of their travel funds. "While on the surface a benign humanitarian movement," the cable said, "the ubiquitous evasiveness of Gulen-ist applicants -- coupled with what appears to be a deliberate management of applicant profiles over several years -- leaves Consular officers uneasy, an uneasiness echoed within Turkey by those familiar with the Gulen-ists."

More recently, Gulen-linked charter schools in other states have been the subject of media attention.

A New York Times investigation in June 2011 estimated Gulen followers had helped start 120 charter schools in 25 states, and raised "questions about whether, ultimately (its Texas charter 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."

In 2012, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the FBI and the U.S. departments of Labor and Education were investigating Philadelphia's Truebright Science Academy over "whether some Turkish charter school employees are required to kick back part of their salaries to a Muslim movement founded by Gulen" and possible abuse of the H1-B visa program, "which has allowed hundreds of Turkish teachers, administrators and other staffers to work in charter schools."

Hendrick said the movement first got involved in education by opening private schools abroad and has gotten into trouble by applying the same hiring and contracting policies it used in its private operations to charter schools, where taxpayer funding brings increased public scrutiny. For instance, the practice of recruiting teachers from Turkey has drawn fire because the average H1-B visa costs between $600 and $1,500 to sponsor, a difficult expense to justify to taxpayers.

"Over the past several years, if you look at a list of the top 10 school systems in the country in terms of applying for foreign worker visas, the majority are Gulen schools," he said. "If you do the math, this is a significant portion of their operating budget."

A 'HOPEFUL ASPECT OF ISLAM'

Martin of Rice University said the Gulen movement is a constructive force, and not just for Texas education.

"I'm in dialogue with them because I think there's a really good chance that they represent the most hopeful aspect of Islam in the world, and on the chance that that's the case, I want to encourage that," he said.

Keschl said his experiences with the Gulen-sponsored cultural trip to Turkey also boosted his confidence in the good intentions of the cleric's followers in Maine.

"You can come up with all sorts of conspiracies all over the place if you want to, but in my view there is certainly all sorts of political things bouncing back and forth between those who oppose Gulen and those who don't," Keschl said. "I appreciated the ideals that were expressed to me in setting up the charter schools and I agree that education is very important for both industrial development and good government. ... I felt them to be very open and honest and wanting to strengthen ties, both cultural and economic, to the U.S.

"Maybe I'm naive, but I don't think I can easily have the wool pulled over my eyes," he said.

Staff Writer Colin Woodard can be contacted at 791-6317 or at:

cwoodard@pressherald.com

This story was updated at 5:10 p.m. Feb. 19 to correctly identify the Gulen-linked schools listed on an archived website.

Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form

More Virigina legislators pull back support from proposed Gulen Charter School

Although the proposed Gulen operated charter school for Loudoun County has been denied.  Senator Black should be praised for being one of the few members of American politics to stand up and say "no more"  The Gulen Movement is wedged in very deeply with member of state, federal legislature as well as on local levels.  As well as local members of higher academia the Gulen Movement has nicely donated money to American universities and to political campaigns.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/01/08/va-legislator-withdraws-support-from-controversial-loudoun-charter-school-proposal/

A Virginia state senator has withdrawn support  from a proposed charter school — which would be the first in Loudoun and possibly in Northern Virginia if allowed to open — because of public “misgivings” and other concerns.

Junior Sen. Richard H. Black D-Loudoun (R) is introduced on the Senate floor on January 11, 2012. (Tracy A. Woodward/The Washington Post)

The application to open the Loudoun Math & IT Academy has sparked controversy in the Northern Virginia county. A three-member select committee of the Loudoun School Board voted recently against recommending that the full panel approve the school because of questions involving curriculum and other operational issues. In hearings, the applicants were unable to answer basic questions about curriculum, student transportation and other subjects to the satisfaction of the members. The full board will vote in late February on the application. The legislature does not have a role in the process.
An undated letter from state Sen. Richard H. Black (R-Leesburg), posted on the school system’s Web site, says he is withdrawing support for the proposed charter for another reason. It says in part:
…Unfortunately, I was not fully apprised of certain misgivings expressed by the public regarding this proposal.

 Questions have been raised about whether other charter schools associated with this particular network have experienced high rates of failure and poor financial management.

Since $8 million will be diverted from the Loudoun County Public School System for the proposed school, I am reluctant to endorse a proposal submitted from a group whose management does not enjoy a solid level of public trust and confidence…

The “particular network” to which he is referring is a group of charter schools around the country that have been opened by supporters of of a reclusive Turkish Islamic preacher named Fethullah Gulen, who lives in seclusion in Pennsylvania. There are believed to be about 135 charter schools in this network, and a number of them have come under investigation from state and federal officials for various issues, including connections to the Gulen Movement. 

Gulen himself won a green card in 2008 to emigrate to the United States after the Department of Homeland Security initially denied his request for a special visa. A 2007 lawsuit  he filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia said  that he was “head of the Gulen Movement,” and an important educational figure who had “overseen” the creation of a network of schools in the United States as well as in other countries,  the Philadelphia Inquirer reported in this story.

The Turkish men who are applying to open the academy have said they are not connected to Gulen though critics say there are connections between them and other Gulen-connected schools. I recently asked Sinan Yildirim, listed as one of the members of the proposed school’s initial governing board, whether he and his fellow applicants are connected to the preacher as critics have said and he answered: “We said no. They said yes. If they claim something they have to prove. And they can’t prove it.”

Some of the applicants run the Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter School in Anne Arundel County, which has had academic success but has clashed repeatedly with Anne Arundel education officials. The school is suing the district, alleging that it has been underfunded. The school won a three-year extension on its contract last summer even though Superintendent Kevin Maxwell cited enormous problems. In a June post I noted:

Maxwell wants the school, among other things, to hire qualified and fully certified teachers, allow parents to elect the board of directors “to reflect the community it serves,” use appropriate procurement and bidding processes for outside contracts, use the same data system that other public schools in the country use, follow board policy for the hiring of foreign nationals, and agree not to allow any of its contractors or subcontractors to “knowingly employ” anybody who has been investigated for criminal activity.

A member of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Geary M. Higgins (R-Catoctin), recently sent a letter to Superintendent Edgar Hatrick III and the Loudoun School Board withdrawing his earlier support for the academy.

State legislators and county supervisors are not officially involved in the application process, but it is interesting that both Higgins and Black are charter school supporters who initially supported the proposed academy.

 Higgins’ letter said in part:

I fully support the concept of charter schools. I also believe that enhanced STEM opportunities for Loudoun students could be of great benefit to the community. However, controversy has arisen around this application such that a closer evaluation is warranted.

Concerns about accounting practices, provision of special education students, hiring practices, and lack of accountability have all been brought to my attention. As a result of the worries raised to me by numerous citizens, I made direct inquiries to Anne Arundel County Public Schools — home to Chesapeake Science Point, which served as the model for LMITA — to check on those concerns. Unfortunately, some of these claims do not appear to be unfounded.

© The Washington Post Company



Islamist Secret Roots of American Schools: The "Gulen Movement"

Islamist Secret Roots of American Schools: The "Gulen Movement"