No, it is not KIPP. It is the Gulen charters, a group of nearly 150 charters located in many states and loosely affiliated or “inspired by” a reclusive Turkish cleric, Fethullah Gulen. Mr. Gulen lives in seclusion in the Poconos but leads a major political movement in Turkey.
The Gulen charters often specialize in math and science. They have a board of directors composed of Turkish men. Some though not all of their teachers are Turkish. They have names like Harmony, Magnolia, Horizon, and Sonoran. Check here for a full list.
To find out more about the Gulen schools, check this website.
To learn about the Gulen movement, read this.
To read about Gulen schools in Texas and lucrative deals for Turkish construction firms, read here
To read about Gulen schools that were audited in Georgia, read here
To read about a Gulen school and its treatment of autistic students in Minneapolis, read here..
Diane Ravitch's blog 
For more Gulen fun:
Google Gulen+visa abuse and Gulen+H1B and J-1.
There is also this article full of links:
Mónica García champions the Gülenist Charter Movement in LAUSD
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/07/1117776/-M-nica-Garc-a-champions-the-G-lenist-Charter-Movement-in-LAUSD
Happy Reading!
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Since I wrote that article, we’ve obtained the full audit report for (Gülen run) Magnolia Charter. Scandal upon scandal, and nothing will happen because they’re closely connected the LAUSD President and her coterie of wealthy supporters.
http://notebook.lausd.net/pls/ptl/ptl_apps.nbk_doc_info.docinfo_qu?p_doc_id=1267274
This is just the overview. The real report scares even the most cynical charter skeptic.
In the end, it’s another example of the inevitable result of putting public funds into private hands.
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Very creepy…who would send their kids to these schools?
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There is one in Putnam, Ct that opened a few years back. It is a boys’ school that boards students and serves a Turkish immigrant population here.I dont think there are many (maybe not any) non-Turks enrolled.I have heard that the working conditions there for teachers are pretty bad.
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This is a PUBLIC school?!
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No, it appears to be private here in CT. Their SAT scores and college list looks average to me compared to our higher performing high schools and they only consider a grade of 59 or below to be failing….their video starts out with a picture of the Statue of Liberty and the Harvard logo even though their college acceptance list does NOT include Harvard…looks like it is primarily a boys boarding school.
http://www.putnamscience.org/
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The facility they use is a former Catholic school that went belly up.
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Putnam is pretty rural…an old mill town with no mills and Turks have settled there? Where do they get their teachers?
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Mostly Turkey, methinks. The wife of a former colleague worked there. Briefly.
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The Turkish students are there, and at least a handful of families are in the area as well.
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Yet this group and others are accepted without any community push back, investigation or opposition. Again, we can’t do it alone. Parents and students need to become involved and speak up to prevent this nonsensical privatization of “our” schools.
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Putnam Science Academy (CT), Pioneer Academy of Science (NJ), and Pinnacle Academy (VA) are all Gulen Movement-associated private schools. In addition, one of their charter schools in GA, the Fulton Science Academy, just converted from charter to private b/c it could not get a renewal. The Wisconsin Career Academy, a charter, just converted to being a private school called Wisconsin College Prep Academy so it could access vouchers. Private Gulen schools are one thing, but when taxpayers are unknowingly supporting Gulen schools with public money, it is entirely something else.
The most comprehensive and best-kept list of the Gulen Movement’s charter schools is @ http://turkishinvitations.weebly.com/list-of-us-schools.html
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That is not true. Despite the Putnam School is a private school, there is just two Turkish teacher doing active teaching. Rest of the teachers are local and American. The school is getting along great with local students and business.
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Did not know we had one here in CT. Wow!
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Sounds like outsourcing to me.
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Gulen also runs Chicago Math and Science Academy, a charter in Chicago where 65% of the staff filed to be represented by my union two years ago and where management refuses to negotiate a contract, claiming not to be a public school.
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“The school’s teachers say the academy wants it both ways: public when it’s accepting millions each year from Illinois taxpayers, but private when it wants to assert power over employees.”
The school’s attorney argues that “public funding alone is not the mark of a public institution. The more important markers, he said, are that charter schools are established by private citizens and that government has little, if any, sway over its operation.”
The academy receives 80% of its funding from the Chicago Public Schools.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-02-22/news/ct-met-charter-school-fight-0222-20110221_1_charter-schools-timothy-knowles-urban-education-institute
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Wow, how many conservative republicans would be excited to find out that tax money is going to an Islamic sect that abuses visa laws to bring in more foreign workers?
Should someone tell the tea party?
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And please tell Joel and Condoleezza since they are very concerned about national security. They would want to know, I am sure!
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Tweet Condi Rice at:
@CondoleezzaRice
FB – http://www.facebook.com/condoleezzarice
Couldn’t find anything on Joel.
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I posted a few articles for her to read. I bet she won’t.
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“The writers and thinkers who have visited them state that these schools are financed by Turkish voluntary organizations. In many or all of them, student fees are an important part of this financing. Local administrators contribute sizable assistance by providing land, buildings, principals, and teachers when necessary. The teachers, who are dedicated to serving their country, nation, and humanity and have found the meaning of life to be in serving others, enthusiastically work for a small salary.”
http://www.fethullahgulen.org/about-fethullah-gulen/education/778-educational-services-spreading-throughout-the-world.html
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And it is rumored that some of that “small salary” is kicked back. Indentured teachers- not a pretty sight.
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Sounds like a cult to me.
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Gulen Movement has nothing to do with Charter School. Most of the Turkish supports the movement and there are many Turkish businessmen, academicians and professionals all around the world. Also Gulen Movement (Hizmet Movement) is transparent, more information can be gathered at official web sites like http://www.GulenMovement.ca and http://fgulen.com
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