The FBI and two other agencies conducted raids with search warrants at 19 Concept charter schools in Illinois and two other states.
“The FBI and two other federal agencies conducted raids in Illinois and two other states at charter schools run by Des Plaines-based Concept Schools, FBI officials said Tuesday.
“Search warrants were executed at 19 Concept schools in connection with an “ongoing white-collar crime matter,” said Vicki Anderson, a special agent in the Cleveland FBI office that’s leading the probe.
“The U.S. Department of Education and the Federal Communications Commission also were involved in the June 4 raids, but officials said the warrants remain under seal, and they wouldn’t give any details about the investigation.
“The raids targeted Concept schools in Illinois — where Concept has three schools in Chicago and two in Peoria — as well as in Indiana and Ohio.”
The Gulen charters have close ties to important Illinois officials:
“Concept was founded by Turkish immigrants and has ties to Turkish-American groups that have hosted Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and other state lawmakers on trips to their homeland in recent years, the Chicago Sun-Times reported in December. In 2012, Madigan visited Concept’s Chicago Math and Science Academy at 7212 N. Clark St., and praised the school in a video posted on YouTube.”
Concept recently was approved for new charters in Chicago.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I know exactly what this raid is about. My book Hoosier School Heist has 10 pages on the Gulen people involved in these Midwest charter schools. If you have a copy, read pages 114-124. It is shocking!
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The statistic the judge relied on in the teacher tenure case (and is in the opinion) is a “guesstimate” and “made up out of thin air” says the expert who supplied it:
“Nowhere, it turns out. It’s made up. Or a “guesstimate,” as David Berliner, the expert witness Treu quoted, explained to me when I called him on Wednesday. It’s not based on any specific data, or any rigorous research about California schools in particular. “I pulled that out of the air,” says Berliner, an emeritus professor of education at Arizona State University. “There’s no data on that. That’s just a ballpark estimate, based on my visiting lots and lots of classrooms.” He also never used the words “grossly ineffective.”
So this passage in the judicial opinion is complete fiction:
“Given that that the evidence showed roughly 275,000 active teachers in this state, the extrapolated number of grossly ineffective teachers ranges from 2,750 to 8,250. Considering the effect of grossly ineffective teachers on students … it therefore cannot be gainsaid that the number of grossly ineffective teachers has a direct, real, appreciable, and negative impact on a significant number of California students, now and well into the future for as long as said teachers hold their positions.”
The “evidence showed” nothing of the sort. It’s a made-up number.
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2014/06/judge_strikes_down_california_s_teacher_tenure_laws_a_made_up_statistic.html
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Dr. Berliner was an expert for the defense.
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Yes, but that statistic was mentioned prominently in the judge’s decision.
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It seems reasonable that the judge would take this to be a low estimate given that it was made by the expert for the defense. I have not seen an estimate of that number by the plaintive’s expert.
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Doug, I will definitely check out your book. I’m probably not aware of all of the details, but I had a child that attended one of the raided charter schools in Indiana, but knew enough to not have him to continue another year
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Thank you, Dee! Yes, the details in Hoosier School Heist are overwhelming. I spent at least 50 hours researching these charter schools in the Midwest.
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Wonder if this raid is related to or stems from the December 2013 raid of the Gulen Charters in Louisiana???? http://www.educationviews.org/finally-fbi-raids-turkish-gulen-charter-school-la/
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My educated guess, Deborah, after spending at least 50 hours researching Gulen for my book Hoosier School Heist, is yes. These raids go back, in fact, to 2011. Thank you for commenting.
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Go to this site for a list of the incredible number of Gulen schools in our country. They are owned and operated by a Turkish citizen. They also received a huge grant from Arne Duncan in RTTT. http://turkishinvitations.weebly.com/list-of-us-schools.html
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Thanks Bonnie! Yes, in my book Hoosier School Heist I point out Duncan and other Democrats and Republicans who have ties to Gulen.
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How many thousands of H-1B visas do they have? It’s absolutely criminal that Turks are brought here to teach children English. Besides, what is the Turkish record on science and math? Zilch, that’s what. They have no business running schools in the US. I have to get your book.
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So true, Nick! Think you for your support. The Gulen movement is vast! My book focuses on the Indiana corporate school movement, but it has information on many other states with many of the same people involved everywhere.
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Taxpayers should be shouting out about where their money is going. The Gulen Movement takes jobs from Americans, all the services at their 140 schools (catering, janitorial, construction, e technology, etc.,) are ALL done by members of their “family” Turkish companies formed to keep the money in the family. They give nothing back to Americans except some measly trips to Turkey and “Dialogue Dinners” which are both largely sales jobs on Gulen and Turkey. They squander our money, with bribes to politicians via campaign contributions and hype the schools up with lying advertisement as something they are not. Most are operating in the red and are financial and educational disasters. But they do put money into their Turkish Clubs and programs. Wake up America. You can win if you shout out to 10 more americans and have them spread the word. http://www.gulenpoliticians.blogspot.com
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Thanks for your comments, Mustafa. I am posting your blog around facebook to help spread the word.
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Doug, keep doing what you are doing. They got away with this in Turkey because people were not willing or were too afraid to speak up. At that time they were heavily embedded with the polis and judiciary system. Of late, Erdogan is dismantling their power. My educated guess tells me they are getting very little money wired to them in the USA but are using whatever money they get for these schools. All these conversations yet no one has linked the Gulen Money man Adem Arici to this, he was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison on 12/9 on 12/11 the school in Louisana was raided. It is said he wired money from his stories (confiscated by the IRS) and his “dealing with the enemy” he flew to Cuba to look at purchasing hotels, etc., he gave a testimony to the feds that “I was sent to Cuba by a religious group I have the wire transfers to prove it” All said and done their school in Marietta, Georgia that was not renewed (Fulton Science Academy) there was a visit by Federal Agents to the state education. Handling grant money and not using it properly is a huge problem with this group. I suspect the E-grant technology money was not spent correctly on infrastructure, etc., or in the true Hizmet fashion they try to keep that money in the family. They will create a business like construction, catering etc., to service the school for that money.
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Thank you, Bonnie.
I found a rural Ohio Republican state representative on the list, “Investing in U.S. politicians”, at the turkishinvitations link. Since he represents my school district, I’m mailing the info. to the school and to the local newspaper.
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Time to get RICO working on this…
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Michael Fiorillo is right. This group is unlike anything the world has ever seen, but it has many aspects that resemble organized crime.
If you are interested and have the time, I run through the history of this particular charter operator (Concept Schools) in my webinar video:
http://perimeterprimate.blogspot.com/2014/04/gulen-movement-101-session-two.html
Also, Tim Furman in Chicago has been doing outstanding work with exposing the Gulen Movement’s tactics, so check out this blog, too:
http://rpnps.blogspot.com/
One amazing thing to know is that our politicians and other public officials won’t talk in public about the Gulen Movement. Heads in the sand or just refusal? Unwilling to say anything b/c the GM is a subgroup of mostly Turkish Muslims? Or is it because members of this group have reached them first and already applied their charms (campaign contributions, awards, trips to Turkey, flattery, etc.)? If it’s one thing the GM knows how to do, it’s to ingratiate themselves with influential and powerful people. Either way, our public officials need to be publicly pressured to state their position on the Gulen Movement, and esp. on its operation of so many charter schools.
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Exactly this is organized crime at the core of it. Politicians are money grabbing as much as they can and enjoying the conventions, and other public relations with a “muslim group” that they think improves their image and ratings. http://www.gulenpoliticians.blogspot.com
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These Gulen schools are run by a Turkish islamist who lives in New Jersey, but is a billionare who has huge influence in Turkey. They do not hire American teachers. Rather, they hire Turks to teach all subjects, including English. They are racists, hate Americans, and are making billions from the morons on school boards who authorize these stealth Islamic schools. What are they teaching children?
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Some corrections Nick…Gulen is a radical Sharia believer, and an Imam who lives on a large, well fortified, compound in the Poconos. He was allowed to come to the US first by Clinton, and then Bush, and now Obama. His goal is to foment revolution in Turkey where he is well known and politically the number two man after Erdogan whom he seeks to depose, then making Turkey into a Sharia nation, and returning to be the ruler. (Rather like Khoumeni.)
Sharon has excellent information on her site and is expert on his rise in American charter schools where he makes about $500 M a year of our taxpayer money to use at will for his own purposes. Many of us continually write the media and the government asking for more open and transparent info be made available to the public.
This rarely happens. He is protected it seems by DC.
Please Doug, give us the highlights of your info for the many who do not have your book.
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Hi Ellen: Basically, my guess is this does come down to visa fraud, among other things, yes. My book is so detailed I don’t know if I can give highlights. But I will say that many politicians from both parties are involved with Gulen and many, at least on the state level, probably don’t understand what they are involved in. I quote from documents from the Ohio auditor’s office in my book about the visa fraud. And the former CIA whistleblower Sibel Edmonds is also detailed. I point out, too, that in Indiana the Gulenists gave awards to the FBI to try to win them over. And that Duncan was given an award by Gulen, too. When I first wrote about Gulen, as I point out in my book, they changed the names of several of their organizations in Indiana and deleted some websites I referred to. Then they started following me on twitter.
The last time Diane posted any of my research on her blog, someone called me a conspiracy theorist nutjob because I had written about Gulen. I got that a few weeks ago from a librarian in Indianapolis when I spoke about Gulen. At least the FBI raids prove that I am not crazy. LOL
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Reblogged this on Centerville United for Responsible Education.
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This highlights a serious problem with using “the market” as a mechanism to regulate publicly funded schools, via individual parent choice. Parents may not care whether the people who run their children’s charter school are on the take, but taxpayers should. In a way, charter networks can undermine market forces rather than bolster them — as when an organization like UNO here in Chicago creates its own sub-entities to which it contracts its work. What you get then is self-dealing, rather than the best service for the best price. The school network operates within a captive market, not a free market; and we should all be concerned, because it’s our money they’re spending.
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Certainly the same logic applies to district public schools as well.
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I have yet to read about a public school that has started its own company to supply itself with anything. I don’t know why, it appears to be vary easy, according to how many charters around the country have been found doing this. Oh wait, public schools are not allowed to do it, they have to go through a bidding process and present to the school boards, etc.
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Thanks Diane for posting this.
I don’t think my rural Ohio community understands that their tax dollars, are going to the type of charter schools and to the individuals, described at the commenter-linked site, turkishinvitations
The site’s page about “myths vs. reality”, is alarming, if accurate. “Strict gender separation… Women are not involved in leadership, finances or decision-making…”
Public education tax dollars to foreign nationals, the integration of Islamic views, visas to teach-
Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Education, is quoted as saying, “If the leaders of the schools are from Turkey, and they bring in people from Turkey, and they’re doing a great job then, our country is enriched by that.”
Press hyperbole about charters, use of terms like “parallel society” and “exceptionalism” provides a window into the private education movement for the 99%.
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Linda…I lecture on this topic almost daily to community groups and university colleagues. Not only Ohioans do not understand how taxpayer money funds these charters, but many who consider themselves politically sophisticated call me a conspiracy theorist when I talk about the Gulen Movement. It is an uphill battle without media reports on this insidious situation.
The general American public does not comprehend or tolerate information about things that are not in People magazine.
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Thank you for your efforts, Ellen.
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I suspect they also violate the immigration laws(i.e., hiring non-citizens as teachers or charter administrators without proper documentation).
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Ken;
I have it on good authority there are 6 federal ongoing investigations on Cemaat (Gulen Movement) DHS, DOL, DOE, FCC, FBI, IRS. But each state attorney’ general as well as the US Attorney general should be looking at organized crime under the RICO act, especially with their layers of foundations, institutes NGOs that are the umbrella for each school. http://www.harmonyparenttruth.blogspot.com
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Ken..these are charter schools. Most charters can hire whom ever they wish, and non credentialed people too.
But I wonder how our government vets the multitude of Turkish Sharia-inclucated men who they allow to get Green cards to teach and run these schools.
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…inculcated, that is…true believers in Sharia law.
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Here is more information on Gulen Charter Schools:
http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/p/gulen-school-characteristics.html
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The FBI needs to take a look at the white collar crime going on in local government!
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Reblogged this on We Are More and commented:
“Search warrants were executed at 19 Concept schools in connection with an “ongoing white-collar crime matter,” said Vicki Anderson, a special agent in the Cleveland FBI office that’s leading the probe.
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Keep in mind – no Turk would ever manage bringing that many h1b staff or would become eligible for that much of tax money (using charter schools) without the (close) support of high level US officials. FBI needs to dig that find out their ties. We are talking about US soil here not an in-secure or low intelligence mideast country. These folks were told about the school gap in US and they landed right on top of it creating their mighty fortune hiding from Turkish Intelligence/police. Gulen is a long time political player in Turkey and probably he has been used by US for many years. Just recently Turkish government asked US authorities to deport him. He may be sentenced if he is given back to Turks. Charter schools are (were) his group’s (profitable) hiding screen in US. Many reporters tell FBI wanted to deport him for long time but guess which other US organization is (still) above(?) FBI when it comes to (inter)national interests? Seems like his timer in US is up this time.. Cheers!
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