From Sharon Higgins, a parent activist in Oakland who keeps track of the Gulen charter movement:
“List of active Gulen charter schools @ http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/p/list-of-us-gulen-schools.html
“More information about recently approved/proposed Gulen charter schools @ http://gulencharterschools.weebly.com/proposed-gulen-charter-schools.html.
“GULEN CHARTER SCHOOLS ALREADY APPROVED FOR 2014-2015 OPENING
1. District of Columbia: Harmony School of Excellence DC was approved by the DC Public Charter School Board on 11/18/2013
2. Florida (likely Kissimmee area): Osceola Science Charter School was approved by the board of the School District of Osceola County on 10/15/2013
3. Florida (Seminole County): Seminole Science Charter School was approved by the board of Seminole County Public Schools on 11/19/2013
4. Illinois (Chicago): Horizon Science Academy – Chatham was approved by the board of Chicago Public Schools on 1/22/2014
5. Illinois (Chicago): Horizon Science Academy – South Chicago was approved by the board of Chicago Public Schools on 1/22/2014
6. Maryland (Hyattsville): Chesapeake Math & IT Academy South was approved by Prince George’s County Public Schools on 8/22/2013
7. Maryland (Laurel): Chesapeake Math & IT Academy Elementary was approved by the board of Prince George’s County Public Schools on 8/22/2013
DENIALS THIS YEAR
1. California (San Diego): Magnolia Science Academy – Next Generation was denied by the board of San Diego Unified School District on 2/4/2014
2. Pennsylvania (City of Lancaster): Academy of Business & Entrepreneurship Charter School was denied by the board of School District of Lancaster on 2/18/2014
3. Washington (Seattle-Tacoma area): Coral Academy of Science (applicant: Quantum Leap Educational Foundation) was denied by the Washington State Charter School Commission on 1/30/2014
IN THE PIPELINE
1. California, for Santa Ana/Costa Mesa area: Pacific Technology School – Santa Ana: To date, two renewal attempts for this school renamed Magnolia Science Academy – Orange County have been denied; state-level appeal is possible
2, Florida, for Leon County: Capital City Charter Science Academy: Status unknown
3. Maine, for Lewiston-Auburn area: Lewiston-Auburn Academy Charter School: Maine Charter School Commission will vote on 3/3/2014
4. North Carolina:
– Buncombe County: Asheville Math and Science Academy: Submitted Letter of Intent for 2015 opening (1st attempt)
– Durham County: Durham STEM Academy: Submitted Letter of Intent for 2015 opening (2nd attempt)
– Mecklenberg County: Cabarrus STEM Academy: Submitted Letter of Intent for 2015 opening (2nd attempt)
– Mecklenberg County): Queen City STEM Academy: Submitted Letter of Intent for 2015 opening (2nd attempt)
5. Pennsylvania
– City of Allentown: Allentown Engineering Academy Charter School: Status unknown; possibly appealing to state
– City of Erie area: Erie Biosciences Academy: Status unknown; possibly appealing to state
– McKeesport area: Young Scholars of McKeesport: Status unknown; possibly appealing to state”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The Maine Charter School Commission unanimously voted “no” on the Gulen charter school proposed for Lewiston-Auburn.
Some of the commissioners made statements extremely critical of the Gulen proposal.
From the Lewiston-Auburn Sun Journal:
Commissioner Ande Smith said he was “incensed” they were lied to in the application, and recommended it be referred to the Maine Attorney’s General Office.
Commissioners did not make that referral, but stated they might consider the subject at another meeting.
Commissioner Heidi Sampson said she researched backgrounds of the charter school’s applicants, Tarlan Ahmadov and Huseyin Kara, and said their assurances that the school had no ties to the Turkish Gulen movement “does not hold water.”
“How can these applicants say they are ‘Gulen inspired but not Gulen influenced?’” Sampson said. “If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, you can call it any sort of aquatic, avian creature but it still has the DNA of a duck coursing through its entire body.”
http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston-auburn/2014/03/03/charter-school-commission-oks-one-virtual-charter-school-rejects-another/1499464#
From today’s article about this school attempt in Maine:
http://www.pressherald.com/news/Charter_school_commission_undecided_on_probe_of_Lewiston_application_.html?pagenum=full
“Despite a suggestion by a member of the Maine Charter School Commission that the Attorney General’s Office investigate “material falsehoods” in an application for a charter school, it’s not clear whether the commission will make such a request.
“At issue is whether organizers of the proposed Lewiston-Auburn Academy Charter School actually had “letters of support” from people listed in their application. Several people on the list, from Lewiston’s economic development director to a Bates College professor, have said they did not write letters…
“Assistant Attorney General Sarah Forster, who works with the Charter School Commission, said Tuesday that she did not know immediately whether lying on an application is a crime…”
Reblogged this on onewomansjournal.
This is from the webpage titled “Reform Laws Needed to prevent abuses such as occur at Gulen charter schools” @ http://gulencharterschools.weebly.com/reform-laws-needed.html
Excerpt:
“This page gives model legislation for charter schools, based on the careful consideration of loopholes that Gulen charter schools and other charter schools have exploited and abused.
“Lobbying organizations such as ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council) and the NAPCS (National Alliance for Public Charter Schools) provide state lawmakers with model charter school laws that benefit special interest groups. In contrast, the model legislation given here is for the public good.
“Lobbying organizations market their proposed legislation with such misleading phrases as “strong laws.” States are ranked by the NAPCS and the CER (Center for Education Reform) according to how “strong” their charter laws are, when in reality the rankings reflect the extent to which these laws comply with the desire of special interests. In other words, so-called “strong” laws are actually weak laws. The public should not be misled by this. The massive amount of abuse that has already occurred within the charter school system can be traced directly to the inadequate oversight and regulation intentionally built into most states’ charter school statutes.
“The model laws are organized in the following sections:
A. Charter application and authorization
B. Funding
C. Oversight
D. Management
E. Reporting and disclosure
F. Procurement
G. Hiring
H. Collection of data
I. Integrity of standardized test results
J. Enrollment and admissions
K. Equal treatment for all students
L. Conflicts of interest, lobbying, and political influence
M. School extracurricular activities
N. Parental rights
O. Teachers’ and employees’ rights
P. Curriculum
Q. Student safety and privacy…”
[Then it goes into a set of detailed and comprehensive proposals. The recommendations are excellent so be sure to visit the page and take the time to read the rest.]
Thanks for doing the yeoman’s work of keeping a close eye on Muslim terrorists.
All Muslims aren’t terrorists, and all terrorists aren’t Muslim.
Gulenism is a controversial political and religious movement, but after reading a lot about Gulen I’ve never seen allegations of terrorism. In fact, far from accusations of terrorism, some anti-Gulen activists have suggested that Gulen is working with the CIA to undermine democracy in Turkey.
The Gulen charter schools are accused of financial improprieties, creaming students, cheating on tests, and dishonesty in their charter applications and in their dealings with parents and the public, among other misdeeds. That is bad enough.
This.
The Gulen movement does not have a terrorist agenda! But, like all charters,it does have an agenda that does raise some very serious concerns about using taxpayer’s money for political gains. In this case, if we “follow the money,” it could takes us to many places both politically and geographically. This brings us to the same essential question: why are we using public funds for non public agendas?
I wonder if I could go to Turkey and the citizens could give me tax money to open a bunch of junky schools? Just think, I could build an empire of schools, hire a sexist staff, and pretend to educate children. Hmmm… no country would be that stupid. yeah right.
There is nothing that scares me more than the spread of these Gulen schools. Why are we in the U.S. selling out to this foreign movement? I find it far from benign.
Back to the purpose of education and what the next generation will be. This is AMERICA and we have plenty of role models and ideals without putting our children in the hands of foreigners we know nothing about. Why would any parent choose this for their children? I can’t fathom it!
Great point, Robert. We have Sharon Higgins to thank for watching out for foreign menaces like this. These immigrants should go back where they belong, not try to educate our kids.
What is disconcerting to me is that hidden agendas are often not obvious when charter applications are submitted. It takes a certain level of sophistication to ferret out such hidden agendas. School board members (or whoever the charter authorizers are) need to be skeptical and then do their research. I believe public school boards should be the charter authorizers, not bureaucrats from “down the road.”