GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

The Westchester Academy of Science Charter School will be one of the Gulen Movement (GM) charter schools that Greg Toppo wrote about in USA Today (8/17/2010).

As usual, nothing will be stated to the public or in the charter school application about the fact that Fethullah Gulen’s educational philosophy will be implemented at this school. Nothing will be stated about how this school is going to expose Gulen’s Turkish Islam to — and promote Turkish nationalism to — its impressionable students. Questioning the founders will come up empty handed, because denial and strategic ambiguity are common GM strategies. If an answer is given, it will be that “there is no organic connection” to Gulen, which is a phrase the GM uses over and over.

As usual, the founders are primarily Turkish/Turkic men, with the assortment of token non-Turks who are usually women. This will be the pattern for the administration, too. If you look into the schools the founders and administrators have been affiliated with, they will be other identified Gulen charter schools. In this case, specifically Central Jersey College Prep, Bergen Arts and Sciences Charter School, Truebright Science Academy, as well as a Harrisburg, PA, attempt.

The science, math, computer, and character education classes will be taught either by freshly imported teachers from Turkey or Central Asia, or by similar teachers from other nearby Gulen charter schools. They will have attended Gulen schools in their homeland. The administration will explain that this bounty of foreign teachers is because they can’t find qualified American teachers, but the GM’s goal is to bring more and more Gulenist teachers into the U.S. on H1B visas.

Students will be encouraged to compete in local Turkish Language Olympics, and if they do well, they will then participate in the GM’s annual international pageant to celebrate Turkish nationalism. There are about 118 of these charter schools operating at this point, and their connections to the GM are still well under the radar of most everyone.

One place where you can educate yourself about the Gulen Movement and the schools is
http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/p/gulen-school-characteristics.html

If you start looking around online, be sure to watch out for the many GMs propaganda websites.

But NYSED has allowed Flex charter’s application to go forward; which is partnering w/ K-12 a for profit EMO that runs online charters throughout the country.

Mona, gloating is not an attractive trait. We don’t know why the Arrow Academy schools were rejected. It might not have had anything to do with partnering with a for-profit organization.

it seems that Gulen’s inflitration into Turkey’s education, politics, media, and military are under investigation especially after a tell all book by a Turkish Police Chief. Next will be an investigation in America on the mismanagement of funds surrounding the 140 US Charter Schools that the Gulen Movement manages.
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100901/FOREIGN/708319894/1002
The National on the Investigation of Gulen in Turkey

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-08-17-turkishfinal17_CV_N.htm
USA Today a Look at Gulen and the American Charter schools

Brady,

I got the feeling “DomainsByProxy” ain’t the local PTA.