Harmony Science Academy a Gulen Charter School gets approval for $90 million in Bond Financing

http://courtbook.tarrantcounty.com/sirepub/cache/2/0fztws55xemaao55i3k4ca55/9479480530201108302531.PDF

TEXAS MAY PROVIDE BACKING FOR CHARTER SCHOOL DEBT OFFERINGS

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-03/texas-may-provide-backing-for-charter-school-debt-offerings.html
Updates with Texas school enrollment in ninth paragraph.)

March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Texas may become the second U.S. state to back charter-school bond offerings under a Senate bill from a Republican leader that is opposed by local school boards.

Bonds from charter districts with investment-grade ratings would be backed by the Permanent School Fund, a AAA rated state endowment that guarantees debt issued by local systems, under the proposal from Senator Florence Shapiro. The Plano Republican heads the Senate’s Education Committee.

Charter schools, which enroll 2 percent of public-school students in Texas, could issue up to 2 percent of the guaranteed debt, under terms of the bill. The ratio would fluctuate with enrollment levels. The endowment had a 2010 return of 13 percent, rising to a value of $25 billion, according to the Texas Education Agency. The fund’s backing may cut bond yields by as much as 4 percentage points for an issuing district.

Opponents who run Texas public-school districts “aren’t happy” about her proposal, Shapiro said. “It’s a relatively small amount of money and once they understand the issue, they may come around,” she said in a March 1 interview.

Texas lawmakers are considering proposals to cut public- school funding by about 10 percent over the next two years while enrollment is projected to rise by about 80,000 annually. The spending reductions, aimed at helping to close a budget gap of as much as $27 billion, may eliminate as many as 100,000 school district jobs, Moak Casey & Associates, an Austin-based education-consulting firm, said in a January report.

Charter Financing

Unlike traditional school districts, charter schools educating about 1.6 million U.S. children don’t have taxing authority to finance school construction, according to a February study by the Local Initiative Support Corp., a New York-based nonprofit focused on community development. Between 1999 and 2009, about $2.4 billion in rated tax-exempt debt was issued to finance charter schools with support from alternative education groups, the organization said in June.

Charter schools are typically open to the public and operate independently of local governments and their union contracts. The schools set their own goals, manage their own budgets and hire and fire teachers using their own criteria.

Backing from the top-rated Texas endowment typically would enable a charter-school district to pay about 1.50 percentage points less on new debt issues in a stable market, said Elise Balboni, a project director at the Local Initiatives group. That savings could rise to as much as 4 percentage points when markets are more volatile, she said.

Funding Concerns

The Texas School Boards Association is concerned that charter schools’ use of the bond guarantees may crowd out school districts that need the endowment’s backing, said Jackie Lain, the Austin-based group’s head lobbyist. Texas had about 4.82 million public-school students last year, state figures show.

“With 80,000 new students coming into our schools annually, we want to make sure that independent school districts have access to these much-needed funds,” Lain said.

Shapiro’s bill requires charter schools to have investment- grade ratings and lets Texas’s education commissioner reject offerings that would lower ratings for bonds issued by adjacent school districts.

“There’s plenty of accountability in the bill,” she said.

If Shapiro’s proposal passes into law, Texas would become the second state after Colorado to provide guarantees to charter-school debt offerings.

Colorado Support

More than 30 charter schools in Colorado have sold bonds totaling $426 million since 2003 through a “moral obligation” program that requires the state to cover debt service when necessary, said Jo Ann Soker, executive director of the Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority in Denver. In all, more than 60 charter schools in Colorado have sold bonds totaling $860 million, she said.

About 8.8 percent of Colorado’s kindergarten through 12th grade enrollment is in charter schools, according to the Local Initiative group. Nationwide, the ratio is about 3 percent.

In Texas, about 120,000 students attend 520 open-enrollment charter schools, said Josie Duckett, a spokeswoman for the Texas Charter Schools Association in Austin. About 60,000 children are on waiting lists, she said.

The largest, Houston-based Harmony Public Schools, has 33 campuses and 16,000 students statewide, according to President Soner Tarim. The organization was started by Cosmos Foundation Inc., a nonprofit group in Texas, according to its website. Cosmos has issued more than $150 million in debt to finance the schools since 2007. He said with endowment backing, the foundation could have saved about $42 million on one $90 million issue in October.

“Other states may be looking at Texas as a model for providing capital for charter schools,” said Maria Sazon, senior director for facilities initiatives at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “Having Permanent School Fund backing would save schools a ton of money that could be used to reinvest in education.”

--Editors: Ted Bunker, Mark Schoifet, Jerry Hart.
To contact the reporter on this story: David Mildenberg in Austin, Texas, at dmildenberg@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.ne

BAD School- Dove Science Academy A Gulen Charter School. Oklahoma Fights Back!

Four Oklahoma charter schools employ about 15 percent of their teachers from overseas using temporary nonimmigrant work visas, according to documents provided by the superintendent of the schools.

If Oklahoma teachers are being laid off, why are we as Oklahoma taxpayers paying people from not even inside our country to come and teach our children?”

Jenni White

Restore Oklahoma Public Education president

A similar chain of 33 charter schools in Texas reports that less than 20 percent of its teachers are from foreign countries using the work visas.

The independent school chains are privately run, but funded with state tax dollars.

The schools have come under scrutiny by conservative and tax watch groups throughout the nation, including Restore Oklahoma Public Education (ROPE), which can be defined as both.

“If Oklahoma teachers are being laid off, why are we as Oklahoma taxpayers paying people from not even inside our country to come and teach our children?” asks Jenni White, president of ROPE.

But the superintendents at both organizations are defending their use of foreign workers to fill positions for which there is a documented shortage in the United States.

“People who criticize us, they don't really know anything about our schools,” said Superintendent Soner Tarim with the Harmony Schools in Texas run by the Cosmos Foundation.

“As opposed to them (the critics), isolated groups, we have 16,000 students and so many parents, thousands of parents. We had 21,000 students on our waiting list last year in Texas.”

Kaan Camuz, superintendent of the four Sky Foundation schools in Oklahoma, said they always look for qualified American teachers before they start searching for international teachers.

“Finding a willing teacher for rigorous math and science classes is difficult,” Camuz said. “My teachers work a lot more hours than any other math and science teachers. They have to come in on Saturday and Sunday. To find such a willing teacher is really, really hard.”

The teachers come to America on temporary, nonimmigrant visas known as H-1B visas.

The visas are good for three years but an employer can apply for a three-year extension.

Of the 149 teachers employed at the four Oklahoma schools, 22 are here on H-1B visas.

Two of the schools are in Oklahoma City: Dove Science Academy, grades six to 12, and Dove Science Academy Elementary, grades kindergarten to fifth.

The other two schools are in Tulsa: Dove Science Academy, grades six to 12, and Discovery School of Tulsa, grades kindergarten to eighth.

The 33 Harmony Schools operated by the Cosmos Foundation in Texas employ about 1,550 and of those about 292 are using H-1B visas, Tarim said.

Teacher shortage

The shortage of math and science teachers across the nation has been well documented by researchers.

President Barack Obama mentioned the shortage in his State of the Union address this year, and Oklahoma offers a financial incentive to lure math and science teachers to the state as part of the “teacher shortage employment incentive program.”

Since 2006, 134 teachers have received more than $1.7 million in cash incentives for teaching math and science in Oklahoma public schools, according to information from the State Regents for Higher Education.

White, a former science teacher, questions whether there truly is a shortage of teachers. She says Oklahoma's certification process that allows professionals to get teaching certificates without returning to school has closed the need.

“Even if there were a shortage, with alternative certification you open up the ability to garner local Oklahoma teachers of math and science,” White said.

Temporary solution

Camuz said hiring foreign math and science teachers is a temporary solution.

Dove Science Academy offers graduates who major in math or science education a $500 per month scholarship to the university of their choice.

“I'll be really happy one day when all our math and science teachers are our alumni,” Camuz said.

Tarim said the Cosmos Foundation funds a similar program called “Grow Your Own Teachers” that will pay the four-year college tuition of any graduate who agrees to return to a Cosmos School after graduation and teach for two years.

The Oklahoma and Texas charter schools have a cooperation agreement for things like website design, student data systems and teacher training, however, the schools are run independently by separate nonprofits.

These schools are part of a growing movement in America, more than 120 charter schools that were founded by young intellectual Turkish nationals.

The charter schools are privately run but publicly funded institutions with an emphasis on math and science and a tendency to use H-1B visas to bring in foreign teachers.

Officials with the schools say the movement is organic and based on a love for education and educators in Turkey that carries over when people emigrate to the United States.

The officials say the schools are not connected or associated with a broader movement.

Social scientists who have studied the movement, say the schools are part of a broader international movement that has millions of followers and is based on the teachings of peace and interfaith respect preached by Fethullah Gulen, an elderly Islamic Turkish scholar.

Read more: http://newsok.com/oklahoma-charter-schools-hire-math-science-teachers-from-overseas/article/3570670#ixzz1NsgSYpiW

Gulen Charter School Gulen's Phoney Awards

http://www.nationalturk.com/en/fethullah-gulen-movement-modern-or-sinister-islam-12111

Turkey’s Fethullah Gulen movement, for some others a sect or a cult, promoting service to the common good, may have grown into the world’s biggest Muslim networking community. Is it the modern face of Islam, or are there more sinister motives?

From Kenya to Kazakhstan, from USA to Sudan and Nepal, a new Islamic network is attracting millions of followers and apparently billions of dollars. Inspired by a Turkish imam, Fethullah Gülen, who resides in the USA, the Gulen movement is linked to more than 1,000 schools in more than 130 countries as well as think tanks, newspapers, TV and radio stations, universities – and even a bank.

The massive network is really unique. It has no formal structure, no visible, no tracable accounts or organisation and no official membership. Its followers state they simply work together, inspired by the message of charismatic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who tries to convince to promote a tolerant Islam which emphasises altruism, hard work and education.

Turkish businessmen are attracted by what they see and hear as his international outlook and pragmatic approach to issues like using a finance credit.

In Turkey currently the movement is thought to have up to 10 million supporters. A recent study shows many are dedicated in giving between 5%-20% of their monthly income to many sub-groups affiliated with the movement.

Critics are centered that the movements aim is nothing but to gain power, to spread socially conservative Islamic attitudes on issues like marriage and alcohol around the world, and to suppress any opposition, just like any other radical islamist organisation.

Fethullah Güven A threat to Turkey’s Secularity?

In the past year, three of its most prominent critics have been sentenced to prison in Turkey, revealing claims that it has become a sinister controlling might in Turkey.

Mr Fethullah Gulen’s critics hint to a video from 1999, in which he preaches his followers that they should purposely attempt to infiltrate mainstream structures:

“You must move within the arteries of the system, without anyone noticing your existence, until you reach all the power centres. You must wait until such time as you have got all the state power, until you have brought to your side all the power of the constitutional institution in Turkey.”

The following year, Fethullah Gulen faced charges of trying to sabotage Turkey’s secular state.

He left then for the United States, claiming the recording had been tampered with. He was later cleared in absentia of all charges.

Today Fethullah Gulen is 70 years old and lives a secluded life on a country estate in Pennsylvania, USA.

Fethullah Gulen has urged his followers to build schools instead of mosques, and encourages interaction with people of other faiths through dialogue societies, including one in the UK and many in the United States.

Fethullah Gulen Hoca Fendi Living in Amerika- NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/us/29cncislamu.html?_r=1

May 28, 2011

Return of Islamic College Raises New Questions

By DAVID LEPESKA

The American Islamic College, closed since 2004 when the state revoked its operating authority, is expected early next month to win approval to reopen.

Supporters see the opening of the Chicago college, founded in 1981 in the Lakeview neighborhood, as an important step for Islamic instruction in the United States. But its detractors point to the college’s ties to a secretive and far-reaching international movement that has been accused of Islamism in some countries and of an overuse of non-immigrant work visas to hire foreign teachers in its schools in the United States.

The movement, led by Fetullah Gulen, a Turkish religious leader living in self-imposed exile in rural Pennsylvania, supports scores of charter schools that have gained a reputation for academic achievement and a commitment to spreading Turkish language and culture.

Yet the Gulen schools have caused widespread concern about possible manipulation of immigration laws and misallocation of taxpayer dollars. Mr. Gulen, an extremely wealthy and well-connected Turkish spiritual and political leader, fled Turkey amid charges of plotting to overthrow the secular government. He was acquitted of all charges in 2006.

The college would become the second Islamic educational institution in the country to offer college-level credit. For Muslims in the area, it would be a rejoinder to those who depict followers of Islam as prone to extremism.

“It looks like a resurrection of the college, which is great,” said Zaher Sahloul, head of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. “It’s very important to have an institution of higher learning run by the Muslim community.”

Top officials at American Islamic College have been linked to Mr. Gulen’s movement. In a cable obtained by Wikileaks, the United States’ former ambassador to Turkey characterized the Gulen movement as a potentially destabilizing influence in Turkey that more secular Turks see as an effort to bring about an Islamic state.

The Gulen movement, called Hizmet (a Turkish word meaning “service”), promotes public service and education and oversees research institutes, universities, media outlets and one of Turkey’s largest banks. The movement seeks to spread Gulen’s influence internationally through an informal network of 1,000 schools in 130 countries.

Hizmet operates more than 120 publicly financed charter schools in 25 states, in addition to a handful of private schools, like the Science Academy of Chicago, run by Niagara Educational Services, a Mount Prospect firm associated with the Gulen movement. Like many of the movement’s American schools, the Science Academy focuses on math and science.

Administrators of the schools often deny any official connection to the movement, which has no formal organization or official membership but operates through a network of followers, according to Hakan Yavuz, a political science professor at the University of Utah and co-editor of a 2003 book on the organization.

“It’s safe to assume that A.I.C. will be influenced by the Gulen movement,” mainly through the selection of the college’s instructors and administrative staff, Mr. Yavuz said.

“It makes sense for them to hire people from the Gulen community,” he said, “as they have much more knowledge and experience in the American education system.”

According to recent news reports, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Departments of Labor and Education are investigating accusations that as many as 100 of the movement’s American schools have used taxpayer money to pay for the immigration of teachers’ families from Turkey and provide other financial support for the Gulen movement.

Federal officials declined to comment.

Ali Yurtsever, head of the executive committee setting up the American Islamic College, denied any connection with Gulen. The school will have to generate its own income, unlike Gulen schools in the United States that are supported by the movement, he said.

Mr. Yurtsever has long been a follower of Mr. Gulen and serves as administrator of Niagara Educational Services. He previously was president of the Gulen-backed Rumi Forum, a Washington research institute whose honorary president is Mr. Gulen.

Attempts to contact Mr. Gulen through his Web site and through Mr. Yurtsever were unsuccessful.

School officials say the college will present what Mr. Gulen has long stood for: a more moderate form of Islam than the extremist version that has often dominated public debate in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001. The school plans to offer more than a dozen courses in the fall and hopes to attract up to 400 local and international students in the next few years.

The college was established 30 years ago by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, a Saudi Arabia-based association of more than 50 predominantly Muslim countries. In 2004, the Illinois Board of Higher Education revoked its operating authority, citing a failure to comply with state regulations.

Now, after spending $500,000 from the Islamic Conference to renovate its library, dorms, mosque, and 1,000-seat auditorium, the college is reopening under new management. It is led by Mr. Yurtsever, a mathematician with a Ph.D. from Ege University in Turkey who taught at Georgetown University.

College officials expect to receive authority to offer for-credit courses from the Illinois Board of Higher Education on June 7. The college has applied for full accreditation, which would allow it to confer four-year degrees.

Mr. Gulen, 70, has lived in the United States since 1999, when he left Turkey. In a widely circulated video from that time, he advised his followers to “move within the arteries of the system, without anyone noticing your existence, until you reach all the power centers.”

In the United States, Gulen schools often import Turkish teachers using H-1B visas, which allow American employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty jobs.

The federal government places a strict limit on the number of H1-B visas it issues, and corporations often complain the cap restrains their ability to transfer highly qualified workers from foreign countries. Yet Gulen-backed schools received 839 H-1B visas in 2010, a 65 percent increase from 2007, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Teachers unions and education reform groups in several states have spoken out against the spike in foreign-born teachers at Gulen schools. “There is no reason to bring teachers in from other countries under the guise of lack of staffing,” said Jenni White, president of Restore Oklahoma Public Education.

Mr. Yavuz, the political scientist, said he did not see the movement as a danger, “but I don’t see it as productive. “

“I think their main goal is to improve the image of Islam in the U.S.,” he said, “but even there, I don’t know if they can be successful.”

Gulen Charter Schools in Oklahoma come under scrutiny for h1-b Visa abuse (Surprise Surprise)

Charter schools go global to fill math, science positions
By MEGAN ROLLAND NewsOK.com
Published: 5/23/2011  2:24 AM
Four Oklahoma charter schools employ about 15 percent of their teachers from overseas using temporary nonimmigrant work visas, according to documents provided by the superintendent of the schools.
A similar chain of 33 charter schools in Texas reports that less than 20 percent of its teachers are from foreign countries using the work visas.
The independent school chains are privately run, but funded with state tax dollars.
The schools have come under scrutiny by conservative and tax watch groups throughout the nation, including Restore Oklahoma Public Education, which can be defined as both.
Click here to read the complete article at NewsOK.com.
Read more from this Tulsa World article at
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20110523_19_A8_FourOk936343&allcom=1#addyourcomment

Gulen Politicians - aka "Useful tools of Gulen": Gulen Tools- Rep. Eric Proctor and Senator Rick Br...

Gulen Politicians - aka "Useful tools of Gulen": Gulen Tools- Rep. Eric Proctor and Senator Rick Br...: "The Gulen Movement uses each of their teachers, interfaith organizers, and other front groups as the new lobbying for Turkey. Gulenists pa..."

Dove Science Academy, After the RAPE on Campus -Dove Science Academy School Backers Say Islamic ties pose no threat

Dove Science Academys and Discover Schools in Oklahoma are under the Cosmos Foundation in Texas.  YES your State tax money is crossing over into Oklahoma where the Oklahoma Public Schools have denied sponsorship of these schools because of the rape and financial mismanagment.  They are now sponsored by Langston University - we are sure that the Gulen Institute aka your tax dollars gives the University big donations for this. 

http://newsok.com/schools-backers-say-islamic-ties-pose-no-threat/article/3563627

Schools' backers say Islamic ties pose no threat

Four Oklahoma charter schools founded by Turkish nationals 11 years ago have ties to an international Islamic movement that promotes peace and interfaith communication. Experts say the connection is nothing to fear, while others are stirring controversy.

 BY MEGAN ROLLAND mrolland@opubco.com Oklahoman   

Published: May 1, 2011
Modified: April 30, 2011 at 10:20 pm

Al Mikell heard the accusations about the elementary school where he sends his two young children.

At a glance

Origins of the schools

Five graduate students from Oklahoma State University founded Sky Foundation in 2000, which has since opened four charter schools in Oklahoma.

Most of the original Sky Foundation founders have left the country.

“We were only a group of graduate students who wanted to make a difference in our hosting community of Oklahoma (as a token of gratitude),” wrote founding member Elvan Ceyhan in an email to The Oklahoman. “I would know if there were connections to a larger network.”

Shortly after the first schools opened, Ceyhan left for doctoral studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He is now a professor in Turkey.

At the same time the Sky Foundation began here, the Cosmos Foundation was established in Texas. Cosmos now has 33 charter schools in Texas, most named Harmony Science Academy.

In 2000, Cosmos applied for its first two charter schools in Austin and Houston. Ali Yavuz Zeybek, is listed as president of the board for both schools.

Zeybek received his doctorate in communications from the University of Oklahoma, is also listed as a founding member on the 2001 charter school application for Dove Science Academy in Oklahoma City.

Camuz said Sky and Cosmos foundations have always worked closely together, cooperating for students' benefit.

He did his own research, talked to teachers and students, and decided to stay.

“I was so impressed with the administrators, who happen to be Turkish, who happen to be Muslim, that I don't worry,” said Mikell, an associate professor of biology at Oklahoma Christian University. “I feel very comfortable. I have never had any fragment of an idea that they were trying to convert anyone to anything.”

Mikell's children attend Dove Science Academy Elementary, an Oklahoma City charter school funded with state tax dollars, run by a nonprofit organization, and free to students admitted through a lottery. Bloggers Note: Checking the faculty list at OCU there is no Mikell listed, can someone from the school please clarify.

It is one of four Oklahoma charter schools run by the nonprofit Sky Foundation, which was founded in 2000 by five graduate students at Oklahoma State University. Most were members of the Turkish Student Association. In 2009, Sky Foundation reported nearly $8 million in revenue.

More than 120 charter schools nationwide were founded by Turkish nationals, beginning in 1999. The schools have excelled academically. They also have brought thousands of workers into the country on temporary visas.

And today the schools are part of a brewing controversy that touches on religion, Middle Eastern politics, the growing school choice movement and immigration.

Mikell said none of the controversy matters when he considers the outstanding education his children are receiving, tuition-free, at the Oklahoma City school.

The movement

At the center is Fethullah Gulen, a 70-year-old Turkish Muslim philosopher who preaches peace, interfaith cooperation, democracy and an emphasis on science and math.

From his current home — described as a retreat or compound in Pennsylvania — Gulen also promotes his brand of volunteerism that has inspired countless people throughout the world.

Social scientists, who have researched the Gulen Movement, claim there are millions of followers around the world and thousands of Gulen-inspired schools.

However, a vocal and active group of bloggers is working to prove that the charter schools in America — founded and run predominately by Turkish men — are in fact a network of schools doing the bidding of Gulen and obscuring the true purpose of the schools: to promote the movement and to help bring Gulen followers to the U.S.

Those in the movement — who live their lives according to Gulen's teachings — are reticent to call it a movement, let alone agree there are charter schools inspired by Gulen.

“I would like to make a very clear distinction and put a space between Gulen-inspired schools and the nonexistence of what some bloggers call Gulen Charter schools,” said Ali Candir, president of The Gulen Institute at the University of Houston. “You can find these things on some ultra right-extremist blogs ... If there's a Turkish person there it can be imagined that some of these individuals, not all of them of course, might be inspired by the works and life of Mr. Gulen.”

International Studies professor Joshua Hendrick at the University of Oregon has published a paper on the Gulen Movement and spoke at Rice University in Houston.

“What is mind-boggling to some and infuriating to others is why do the leaders deny affiliation when affiliation is clear?” Hendrick said in his lecture. “The school choice movement here in the United States allowed ... the Gulen Movement to take advantage of public funding, to create a situation whereby the United States now hosts more Gulen-inspired schools than any country in the world outside of Turkey.”

Jill Carroll, who teaches religious studies at Rice and published a book on the movement, says that while the schools were clearly inspired by Gulen there is no central organization. She said the American public has nothing to fear.

“The tendency is for people over here who are afraid of Islam and Muslims to think that these are madrassas or they're teaching the Quran, and this is ridiculous,” Carroll said. “It's nothing but fear mongering ... not based on anything factual.”

Across the nation, the charter schools are known for their strong math and science curriculums, as well as a heavy use of temporary nonimmigrant visas — H-1B visas — to bring foreign teachers to the United States.

The superintendent of the four Sky Foundation schools in Oklahoma, Kaan Camuz, said of 35 teachers at Dove Science Academy, 11 are from Turkey, Russia, Turkmenistan or Azerbaijan.

Those teachers, along with many others on the school's four campuses, came to America on H-1B visas. Federal law allows employers unable to find qualified American employees to fill positions with foreign labor through a visa application process.

Last year, according to U.S. Department of Labor records, Sky and its charter schools had 53 H-1B visa applications, of which eight were withdrawn or denied and 45 were certified. The certified applications were sent to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of State for further approval. Some were approved, others not.

“There are a lot of Turkish people in administration. There also are a lot of non-Turkish people in administration,” said Maureen Brown, principal of the Discovery School of Tulsa, an elementary school founded by Sky in 2009. “I'm one of those people, and I'm not Turkish. I really like working in a multicultural environment.”

Getting in

The Oklahoma charter schools serve a high percentage of minority and low-income students and perform solidly on mandatory state exams. Dove Science Academy — a sixth- through 12th-grade school that just celebrated its 10-year anniversary — was named the state's top high school in 2009 by Business Week.

Last month more than 100 parents filled the cafeteria at Dove Science Academy, hoping their children would be selected to attend the school next August.

“I'm just really hoping that she gets in,” Ivonne Simental said of her daughter, wanting to fill one of the few slots open for seventh grade.

But her eyes filled with tears when her daughter wasn't drawn in the lottery for automatic admission.

“I'll probably work two jobs to try to send her to a private school,” she said.

Camuz said every year they have to turn away more students. He tells parents, students and teachers about the accusations against his school, but most often they aren't concerned.

“They give their most valuable thing to us, their children,” Camuz said.

Tulsa school board ends charter with Dove Science Academy

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=298&articleid=20091026_298_0_Citing976068

By ANDREA EGER World staff writer

Published: 10/26/2009  10:22 PM

Last Modified: 10/27/2009  12:11 AM

Citing concerns about services for special education students and the legality of consequences for certain behavior infractions, the Tulsa school board voted unanimously Monday to end its sponsorship of Dove Science Academy, one of the city’s longest-operating charter schools.

In a separate action, the board approved a three-year renewal of its contract with the Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences, a charter high school.

The school board’s charter school committee had recommended that Dove Science Academy’s request for a five-year contract renewal be denied.

Board member Ruth Ann Fate, who serves as the committee chairwoman, questioned the school’s special education and disciplinary practices and claimed that the school has failed to comply with a laundry list of terms in its contract with TPS.

“The documentation submitted by Dove regarding its special education services and programs demonstrates substantive compliance problems in the IEPs (individualized education programs) developed. … This strongly suggests that Dove is plugging all special-needs students into one system rather than making individualized decisions,” Fate said, reading from a prepared statement.

She also cited “myriad deficiencies” in Dove’s student discipline handbook, including expulsion as a consequence and the withholding of student records in certain disciplinary cases, both of which are not allowed under Oklahoma law.

The committee could reconsider its recommendation if Dove officials can prove that they are in full compliance by Nov. 23, Fate noted.

About 75 people, most of whom were Dove employees and parents, could only listen because the board did not allow public comments.

Afterward, Dove Principal Mustafa Kili said he was surprised by the school board’s decision.

“We have one full-time and one part-time staff plus regular staff who help special education students,” Kili said. “As for the other things, I was told that TPS officials would come and audit our student files on Dec. 19, and those items (including expulsion and record withholding) have been in the handbook for four years at least, and they were supposed to be reviewing us every year.”

Located at 208 S. Memorial Drive, Dove Science Academy was founded in 2000 and now serves about 400 students in grades 6-12. Its contract with Tulsa Public Schools expires June 30.

Board President Lana Turner-Addison did not attend Monday’s special meeting because she is out of state on business, but she said in a telephone interview that she supports the board’s action and that Dove officials were warned about the board’s concerns in a letter sent to them in June.

“At the end of last (school) year, we had made a decision with Dove to give them a one-year renewal and to look at it again. There are still some questions regarding them being compliant in some areas,” she said.

“As a district, we support school choice and will continually strive to impact students and families in that manner. However, we have a responsibility to do what is right and make decisions that fall in line with district policies and the (Oklahoma) Charter Schools Act.”

At Monday’s meeting, board member Brian Hunt asked, “How is it that we’ve gotten to this point after nine years?” referring to the charter school’s long history with TPS. Bobbie Gray, a much longer-serving board member, responded.

“I was on the board in 2000, and we were very pleased to announce the charter with Dove. … I don’t know if there has been a change in administration or a change in staff, but we’ve never had the concerns that we had this time in the things that we’ve looked at. It’s very concerning to us when the state laws aren’t being followed,” she said.

Bill Powell left Monday’s meeting angry, with his wife in tears and his son, a seventh-grader at Dove, looking confused.

“TPS dropped the ball with my son in the third grade. He left one of their pretty good schools with a D-average and now has a B-plus and A-minus average in a little over a year. I’m very irritated,” Powell said. “ I do want to know if these allegations are true — I’m sure some are — but at the same time, are they digging up dirt about the assault last year just because they can?”

Powell was referring to the reported rape of an 11-year-old girl in a Dove rest room by a 17-year-old fellow student in December 2008.

The board had expressed concern about that allegation in its June letter to the school. The teenager, Donnie D. Johnson, is awaiting trial as an adult on first-degree rape charges in the case in Tulsa County District Court.

Additional information about Harmony Science Academy no interest bond financing

BY DON MUNSCH dmunsch@fbherald.com | Posted: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 3:44 pm
Fort Bend County Commissioners on Tuesday approved action on a request for proposal from Millis Development and Construction of Sugar Land for paving, water and grading improvements for the Highway 36 Park and Ride project to be constructed near the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds.
The county will now enter into contract negotiations with Millis.
Construction would begin sometime this summer and the project would be ready for usage this fall, said Paulette Shelton, public transportation director for Fort Bend County.
The park and ride project will have roughly 375 spaces and will have a pavilion component, Shelton said. The project will be located on the Fairgrounds Boulevard and will be set back about 250 feet from Texas 36.
Also Tuesday, commissioners approved an agenda item related to the issuance of education revenue bonds for a foundation, although the county will bear no financial liability in the transaction.
Commissioners approved action on a certificate of the Fort Bend County judge to approve, pursuant to Section 147(f) of the Internal Revenue Code, the issuance by city of Houston Higher Education Finance Corporation Education Revenue Bonds (Cosmos Foundation Inc.) Series 2011A, regarding construction and equipment of Harmony School campuses located in Fort Bend County, with no financial obligation by Fort Bend County.
Cosmos is a qualified 501(c)-3 organization and therefore is eligible to participate in tax-exempt financing, according to a letter sent to Fort Bend County Judge Bob Hebert from Andrews Kurth LLP, bond counsel for the transaction.
"However, unlike a governmental issuer (city, county and school district), a 501(c)-3 organization issues bonds through a state-approved conduit and must conduct a hearing on the financing," the letter from Andrews Kurth LLP said.
The letter said because there are campuses in Fort Bend County, the Internal Revenue Service requires that the highest elected official of the county approve the transaction after a public hearing is held. The public hearing was held in April at Andrews Kurth LLP in Houston.
Cosmos Foundation Inc. is financing and refinancing the construction and equipment of Harmony Schools across the state. The campuses to be financed in Fort Bend are located in Sugar Land and Katy, with three of those locations in Sugar Land.
The loan will not be a debt or liability of Fort Bend County, and the consent being requested was only for the purpose of complying with the federal tax law regarding tax-exempt financing.
Among other agenda items Tuesday, commissioners approved:
• authorization to accept a grant from the George Foundation in an amount not to exceed $50,000 to be used as a portion of the 20 percent local match required by the Texas Department of Transportation for the U.S. 59/FM 762 landscaping project and authorizing Hebert to sign the grant contract that will be effective after July 1, 2011.
• action on an access and utility easement from Fort Bend County to the city of Richmond, granting a private access easement and public utility easement, being a 0.087 acre of land and a 0.128 acre of land, over and across a portion of Commercial Reserve "A" of Gus George Academy Subdivision in Precinct 1.

Rape at Gulen Dove Science Academy- and loss of sponsorship, Dove to reinvent themselves

Dove Science Academys and Discovery Schools in Oklahoma are under the Cosmos Foundation in Texas, they are no longer under the Oklahoma public schools because of a rape(see article below and news story) at the Tulsa campus and financial mismanagement. They are now being sponsored by Langston University (which we are confident receive academic "grants" from the Gulen Insitute. Lately the Gulen Schools in Oklahoma have been beefing up their marketing with visits and photo opportunities with Rep Eric Proctor and Senator Rich Brinkly. Good Luck Dove Science Academy you will need it.

NOW THE FOX NEWS ABOUT THE RAPE ON THE CAMPUS OF DOVE SCIENCE ACADEMY

Updated: 12/19/2008 10:35 pm

Published: 12/19/2008 10:18 pm

(Friday, December 19, 2008 5:00 pm by Kaci Christian, FOX23.com, Tulsa OK) – Shocking allegations at a Tulsa-area school: a high school basketball player is charged with first-degree rape. 17-year-old Donnie DeShawn Johnson is accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl in a school bathroom at Dove Science Academy on S. Memorial Dr, near I-244. That’s where we find FOX 23’s Kaci Christian. Kaci—Johnson is still in jail?

“That’s right. Johnson is accused of attacking a little girl after school last Thursday, December 11^th, and that’s when he was arrested,” reports FOX 23’s Kaci Christian. “He’s still in jail tonight, being held in lieu of $50,000 bond, while the community here reacts.”

Michael Arroyo, 18, is a senior at Dove Science Academy in east Tulsa.

“Everybody’s startin’ to talk about it,” Arroyo says, referring to the rape of a sixth grade girl last Thursday. “I was pretty shocked to hear about it and pretty surprised just that it could happen or that even the thought of it happening was really hard to believe.”

Kris Stacy just dropped her son off at the school. Today is his last day, and she’s thrilled he’s graduating from high school. Like Arroyo, he takes classes in the morning at Tulsa Technology Center (TTC) and spends his time in the afternoon in class at Dove Science Academy. Stacy says her son been attending Dove since sixth grade. The charter school runs from sixth through twelfth grade, serving both middle school and high school students who want to focus on a curriculum specializing in science, mathematics and technology.

Stacy, too, has heard about the rape.

“I was shocked when I heard it. I was really shocked,” Stacy says. “That’s horrible. That’s horrible. So she must be sixth grade. See, that’s where my son started, was in sixth grade. I mean, I have never heard of anything like this happening at Dove. Ever. And like I said, my son has been going here for, for years, and I—this is the first time I have ever heard of anything like this happening here.” STORY CONTINUES AT FOX 23

http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Tulsa-High-School-Student-Accused-of-Raping-Sixth/ub6cuJPWAECG60Zp8XxRbw.cspx

Dove Science Academy, Sky Foundation, Discovery School
Evidence of affiliation with Gulen Movement

Dove Science Academy is the name of publicly-funded charter schools in Oklahoma, located in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.  Its charter holder is the Sky Foundation, which also runs the Discovery School of Tulsa.

A letter addressed to Dove Science Academy parents asked them to contribute to ISWEEEP, as a way of thanking the Cosmos Foundation for startup funds they provided for Dove.  The Cosmos Foundation is a Gulenist organization running the Harmony Public Schools chain of Gulen charter schools in Texas.

Dove Science Academy students went on a school field trip to the Oklahoma City Raindrop Turkish House, a Gulenist organization.  Another Dove field trip was to the Raindrop Turkish House in Houston, for its Annual Turkic Cultures and Children’s Festival.  This was also a Gulenist event run by a Gulenist organization.

Dove Science Academy teachers have been on Gulenist trips to Turkey.

Dove Science Academy students participate in the Turkish Olympiads, a Gulenist competition that nearly all Gulen charter schools in the US are active in.

Dove Science Academy has filed a number of H-1B visa applications for teachers and staff, following the modus operandi of Gulen schools in the US.  These have included applications for Turkish language teachers.

Dove exhibits the characteristics of Gulen charter schools listed here.  In particular, Dove has been cited several times by government officials for deficiencies in special education.  In October 2009, the Tulsa School Board ended its charter with Dove in Tulsa; special education was a deciding factor.  Dove was able to find another authorizer and continue in business.

A land deal that involved the transfer of property from the Sky Foundation to the Rain Drop Foundation (a Gulenist organization running the Raindrop Turkish House) through Yuksel Alp Aslandogan, a major player in the Gulen Movement here in the US, shows the close connection between all these entities.  The deal involved the commercial property at 4444 N Classen Blvd, Oklahoma City.  The Sky Foundation purchased this property on May 28, 2008 for $780,000, sold it to Yuksel Slp Aslandogan for $1,025,000 on August 27, 2010, and he in turn sold it to the Rain Drop Foundation just 4 months later, on Dec 27, 2010, for only $650,000.  There is no evidence that fair market land prices in Oklahoma City fluctuated to such an extent between August and December 2010.

An article in the newspaper Oklahoman that appeared on May 1, 2011 discusses Dove's ties to the Gulen Movement.

The connection with the Gulen Movement is further shown by the multiple affiliations of the following individuals, both past and present.Yalcin Akyildiz, a.k.a. Yalcin White

• Principal, Dove Science Academy Oklahoma City  
• Harmony Public Schools, South Cluster Superintendent  (Gulen charter schools)

Bayram Annanurov

• Teacher, Dove Science Academy
• Teacher, Brookside-Frontier Math and Science School, Kansas City, Missouri (Gulen charter school)

Ergin Bostanci

• Dove Science Academy
• Institute of Interfaith Dialog  (Gulenist)

Kaan Camuz

• Principal, Harmony Science Academy Austin
• Dove Science Academy CEO, Superintendent
• Petitioner, Dove School of Excellence Springdale, Arkansas (proposed Gulen charter school)

Kamil Celik

• Board Member, Dove Science Academy
• Institute of Interfaith Dialog  (Gulenist)
• Raindrop Turkish House  (Gulenist)

Kazim Cicek

• Teacher, Dove Science Academy
• Teacher, Chesapeake Science Point, Maryland  (Gulen charter school)

Volkan Cicek

• Dove Science Academy
• Board Member, Sky Foundation d.b.a. Dove Science Academy
• Harmony Science Academy  (Gulen charter school)
• Institute of Interfaith Dialog  (Gulenist)
• Interfaith Dialogue Student Association  Oklahoma State University  (Gulenist)
• Dean of Faculty of Education, Isik (Ishik) University, Iraq  (Gulenist)

Bilal Erturk

• President, Board, Dove Science Academy
• Institute of Interfaith Dialog, Tulsa OK  (Gulenist)
• President of Texas A&M's Institute of Interfaith Dialogue chapter  (Gulenist)

Birol Furat

• Board Member, Sky Foundation d.b.a. Dove Science Academy
• Dove Science Academy principal
• Principal, Lisa Academy, Arkansas  (Gulen charter school)
• Turkish Cultural Center New York  (Gulenist)
• Turkish Cultural Center Queens  (Gulenist)
• Turkish Olympiads judge  (Gulenist competition)

Ilker Gure

• Dean of Students, Dove Science Academy
• Assistant Superintendent, Cosmos Foundation  (Gulenist)

Mustafa Guvercin a.k.a. Mustafa Dove  (note: dove=guvercin in Turkish)

• Principal, Dove Science Academy
• Cluster Superintendent, Harmony Science Academy Austin  (Gulen charter school)
• Petitioner, Pelican Math and Science Charter School, Louisiana  (proposed Gulen charter school)
• CEO, Abramson Science and Technology Charter School, Louisiana  (Gulen charter school)
• Executive Director, Bluebonnet Learning Center, Texas   (Gulenist business)

Yusuf Kandir

• Dove Science Academy
• Harmony School of Nature and Athletics   (Gulen charter school)
• Brookside Frontier Math and Science School   (Gulen charter school)

Ihsan Kara

• Board Member, Sky Foundation d.b.a. Dove Science Academy
• Harmony Science Academy Brownsville  (Gulen charter school)

Gultekin Kaya

• Dove Science Academy
• Harmony Science Academy Lubbock TX  (Gulen charter school)
• Harmony Science Academy College Station TX   (Gulen charter school)

Orhan Kucukoskan

• Dove Science Academy
• Sky Foundation
• Raindrop Turkish House  (Gulenist)

Asil Oztekin

• Board Member, Sky Foundation d.b.a. Dove Science Academy
• OSU Interfaith Dialog Student Association  (Gulenist)
• Institute of Interfaith Dialog  (Gulenist)

Birol Ozturk

• Board Member, Sky Foundation d.b.a. Dove Science Academy
• Institute of Interfaith Dialog, Oklahoma  (Gulenist)
• Board Member, Turkish Cultural Center of Syracuse  (Gulenist)

Fevzi Simsek

• Principal, Dove Science Academy
• Principal, Discovery School of Tulsa  (Gulen charter school)

Hasan Suzuk

• Dove Science Academy
• Kenilworth Science and Technology Charter School  (Gulen charter school)

Can "John" Topuz

• Dove Science Academy
• Curriculum Consultant, Sky Foundation; paid $52,836 in 2006
• Texas Gulf Foundation   (Gulenist)
• Institute of Academic Studies   (Gulenist)
• North American College  (private Gulenist post-secondary institution)

Muhammet Turkay

• Teacher, Dove Science Academy
• Vice Principal, Memphis School of Excellence  (Gulen charter school)

Hakan Yagci

• Board Member, Sky Foundation d.b.a. Dove Science Academy
• Principal, Harmony Science Academy College Station  (Gulen charter school)
• Principal, Harmony School of Nature and Athletics  Dallas  (Gulen charter school)

Zekeriya Yuksel

• Principal/Executive Director, Dove Science Academy
• Board Member, Sky Foundation d.b.a. Dove Science Academy
• Harmony Science Academy San Antonio  (Gulen charter school)
• Regional Superintendent, Harmony Public Schools  (network of Gulen charter schools)