Turkish Charter Cultmania!

U.S. Tax payer Dollars Support Turkish Cult Educator

By Jim Vail

The Greek Star

The drive to privatize public education is attracting all kinds of business operators from around the globe.  Among the groups of non-profit operators opening up charter schools are religious cults.  And one big operator in Chicago with several charter schools is tied to the Gulen Movement, a Turkish Islamic cult that has embraced modern technology, private enterprise, media and education.

Concept Schools runs the Chicago Math and Science Academy in Rogers Park on the north side, and is opening another charter school on the southwest side.  It also recently pulled out of a possible Lincoln Square location after residents protested the school at a neighborhood meeting. Many questioned how the Chicago Board of Education could be closing public schools because of low enrollment, and then quickly propose opening a charter school.

Concept Charter Schools is looking to expand its footprint in Chicago by opening two high schools, one in Chatham and the other in South Chicago.

The charter school game is a big business being promoted by some of this country’s billionaires, including Bill Gates and Eli Broad.  And Concept Schools is tied to a powerful religious movement led by Turkish Islamic scholar Fetullah Gulen, which has substantial investments in media, finance and for-profit health clinics.

According to Wikipedia, the exact number of Gulen supporters is not known because the movement is rather secretive, but estimates range from 1 to 8 million. The NY Times described the movement as a “moderate blend of Islam,” while Prospect magazine reported the movement as “at home with technology, markets and multinational business and especially with modern communications and public relations.” 

Others believe this cult purposely keeps its distance from Islamic political parties, including the ruling party in Turkey today which has seen tremendous protests in the streets recently.

Wikipedia says critics claim the movement’s organizational structure is strict obedience, hierarchical and undemocratic, including telling whom members should marry.

Gulen has an impressive media empire covering newspapers and TV, and is very active in education. It runs schools with more than 2 million students, from about 300 schools in Turkey to over 1,000 schools worldwide, Wikipedia states.

Many say the schools are well run and promote good citizenship. However, in 2008 the Dutch government investigated the movement’s activities in the Netherlands and concluded that the Gulen schools promoted “anti-integrative behavior” and reduced their public funding, according to Wikipedia.

Interestingly enough, it is only in the United States, Wikipedia states, where the state is lavishly funding these Turkish charter schools. According to the NY Times, there are about 120 schools in the US, mostly in urban centers like Chicago that are closing public schools. Charter schools are private operators that get public funding.

The Gulen schools have been accused of using its money to buy influence, including financing politicians’ trips for their support. The Philadelphia Enquirer reported that the FBI and Depts. of Labor and Education were investigating whether some employees were kicking back part of their salaries to a Muslim movement founded by Gulen known as Hizmet.

The other troubling part is that it appears these Turkish schools are H-1B visa factories (visas reserved for highly skilled workers who fill needs unmet by the American workforce). In 2011, 292 of the 1500 employees at the Gulen-inspired Harmony School of Innovation in Texas, were on H-1B visas, claiming they were unable to find qualified teachers in America, highly questionable during an economic crisis when many teachers were being laid off, and bringing in Turkish nationals with inferior language skills to teach in American schools.

There was also an FBI investigation of Concept Schools in Ohio under the suspicion that they were illegally using taxpayer money to pay immigration and legal fees for people they never even employed. This was later confirmed by state auditors, and Concept repaid the fees for some of the schools, Wikipedia reported.

Some argue that these charter schools are simply money makers for building the Gulen movement in the US and they obtain a substantial amount of private, state and federal funding, and have proved “amazingly effective at soliciting private donations,” Wikipedia reported.

The NY Times reported two of its schools in Texas were accused of funneling some $50 million in public funds to a network of Turkish construction companies, among them the Gulen-related Atlas Texas Construction and Trading, even though some bidders claimed in lawsuits that they had submitted more economical bids.

This is a very interesting charge since the powerful Mexican charter operator UNO, with tight ties to Mayor Rahm Emanuel in Chicago, was temporarily suspended after it was discovered they were awarding no-bid construction contracts to the family members of board members. 

The Deseret News also reported questions about the US tax monies these Turkish schools are getting, noting, “In a time of teacher layoffs, (Gulen) has recruited a high percentage of teachers from overseas, mainly Turkey. Many of these teachers had little or no teaching experience before they came to the US. Some of them are still not certified to teach in Utah.”

And therein lies the beauty of charter schools for those with the money to pay salaries.  A considerable number of teachers in charters do not have to be certified, and they make a lot less money than their counterparts in public schools because they are mostly non-unionized.

The Turkish Chicago Math and Science Academy was involved in a big fight to prevent its teachers from unionizing, reflecting its very pro-business and anti-worker sentiment.

Many parents and students in Chicago probably do not know that the charter school is directly tied to the Turkish cult, as it has, like most high-profile cults today in money making operations, downplayed its ties to Turkey and religion.

Their schools in Kazakstan have been accused of following admission policies that favor the children from wealthy and well-connected families, while its schools in Tashkent and St. Petersburg were closed for a period, being accused of supporting Islamic groups.