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Gulen Charter Schools in the USA: Gulen Charter Schools in the USA - Under scrutiny ...: "Fethullah Gulen’s Missionary Charter Schools Coming under Increasing Scrutiny in the United States and around the Worldhttp://www.kurdishas..."

Gulen Schools Worldwide: Gulen Movement "How to Destroy a Country for Dummi...

Gulen Schools Worldwide: Gulen Movement "How to Destroy a Country for Dummi...: "Oxford Analytica versus Turkish democracy Last week the US ambassador to Turkey created havoc when he directly commented on a legal case a..."

Gulen Charter Schools- Federal Investigation "Somebody's Watching Me"

An article exposing a federal investigation into the Gulen Movement's involvement in charter schools (>30,000 students) has just been published in Il Sole 24 Ore (considered to be The Wall Street Journal of Italian newspapers): Un imam alla conquista degli Usa.

Yet still, the U.S. public remains uninformed about this whole situation because the American press has revealed very little to them.

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Here is the translation.

http://gulenforeignmedia.weebly.com/feb-20-2011-italy.html

An imam in the conquest of the United States -
by Claudio Gatti  -  Il Sole 24 Ore (Italy)

February 20, 2011

NEW YORK -  A Muslim religious movement wants to conquer America. In fact, in a sense it has already conquered and no one has yet noticed.  Nothing to do with al-Qaeda, terrorism or Islamic fundamentalism. We speak of a sect that is rather mysterious - so much so that it has been called the Muslim Opus Dei - founded in Turkey in the 1970s by an imam named Fethullah Gülen. And noted rather for its moderation.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Gulen’s followers opened dozens of schools in Central Asia. From there, the network of “Gulenist” schools has spread across all of Asia and in many African countries with the aim of forming a new ruling class tied to Turkey and the Gulen movement. Eleven years ago, to escape the military, Gulen relocated from Turkey to a spiritual center in Pennsylvania that is two hours from New York. Since then, his movement, known among followers simply as "the Service" - Hizmet in Turkish – have opened a flurry of schools in the U.S.. The difference is that it is being done at the expense of American taxpayers.

Il Sole 24 Ore has been able to determine that for months, the FBI, Department of Justice and Department of Education have been investigating the possible illegal use of these education funds, a criminal conspiracy, extortion, and violation of immigration laws. "The suspicion is that, behind an educational effort, there is a giant conspiracy" a federal officer, requesting anonymity, explained to our newspaper. "The plan is as simple as it is brilliant: to use public funding for schools to educate a new generation of Americans favorably inclined to Turkey and thus indirectly to the Gulen movement, and also to spend some of that money to fund foundations and cultural centers."

Federal authorities have identified at least 120 schools opened in recent years by the movement in some twenty U.S. states, all charter schools, which are outside the loop of public education but financed by states and the federal government. Since each of these schools receives from 1.5 to 3 million dollars each year in public funds, it is a matter of hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Those funds also serve to give employment to thousands of followers of the movement brought in specially from Turkey to teach scientific subjects. An analysis of work permits for teachers reveals that between just 2007 and 2009,  the "Gulen" schools requested and were granted 1,851 visas in three years, more than some major American corporations such as Motorola and Google.

Part of the public funds also ends up in the coffers of companies founded by Gulen to provide services to schools. Il Sole 24 Ore has identified two such companies, Concept Schools and Breeze Inc., which in various documents appear to have contracted for over 100 thousand dollars a month with each of six schools in Ohio suspected of being affiliated to Hizmet.

Gulen declined to answer our questions, but when Il Sole 24 Ore asked Beksir [sic- should read Bekir] Aksoy, chairman of the spiritual center of Pennsylvania where the onetime imam lives, if the founder has any relationship with these schools, the response was an emphatic no. And the school administrators themselves have always denied any formal relationship with the movement.

But federal authorities have documents and emails that prove the link. Not only that, they show that the Hizmet would split the U.S. territory into five regions, assigning each of these to a single responsible individual, and that each teacher "imported" from Turkey would be required to return a percentage of their salary to the movement.

The region including Ohio was to be entrusted to a Turkish imam named Veli Aslan, better known as "brother Veli.”  An email sent in June 2008 with regard to teachers who were late in making the paybacks reads: "Brother Veli wants to have all the “salary returns."  And he says to withhold future salaries from those who have not made them."

More incriminating still is an email dated June 13, 2007 and sent to the principal of a school in Ohio and copied to the CEO of Concept Schools, a board member of Breeze, and the Executive Director of the Niagara Foundation, a foundation personally headed by Fethullah Gulen. The email recommends "increasing the number of teachers from Turkey ... to acquire more money."

Federal investigators believe that proves the involvement of all the various branches of Hizmet - schools, service organizations, and the most important Gulenist foundation in the U.S. - in what they call "the Tuzuk conspiracy", namely the illegal financing of the movement at the expense of taxpayers.


The man
From Izmir to Washington

Fethullah Gulen, born in 1941 in Erzurum, Turkey, was in his youth a disciple of the Muslim leader Said Nursi. In 1966 he moved to Izmir, where the audience of faithful who attended his sermons began to widen.  In the 70s he founded the Gulen Movement, which takes its name, known to his followers as Hizmet, "the service:" an organization in no time very active in establishing schools, first in Asia and Africa, and today in the United States, with  the goal of creating a ruling class tied to Turkey and the movement.

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Mind Control Cults

Magnolia Science Academy Santa Clara get MOU for Beginning Teachers

http://www.campbellusd.k12.ca.us/BdagendaPkt_Feb2011/1110.pdf

Extra funding for those beginning (scholar wink-wink) teachers.

Horizon Parents Truth: Horizon Science Academy- Charter School Test Score...

Horizon Parents Truth: Horizon Science Academy- Charter School Test Score...: "Charter School Test Scores tell the REAL story http://www.nctimes.com/news/opinion/columnists/riehl/article_40c956c0-3ee2-587a-b89b-630bdb95..."

Magnolia Science Academy - Evidence of Affiliation with Gulen Movement

Magnolia Science Academy: Evidence of affiliation with the Gulen Movement

Magnolia Science Academy is a chain of publicly-funded charter schools in California run by MERF (Magnolia Education and Research Foundation), which was formerly Dialog Cultural, Scientific and Educational Foundation (often abbreviated as "Dialog Foundation") in Reseda Callifornia.

Attempted replications have included the two branches of Pacific Technology Schools, as well as the failed attempts of Orange Science Academy and Sequoia Science Academy (two proposed charter schools in California) and Pioneer Technology Charter School in Oregon.

On November 16, 2007, the Committee on Charter Schools of the Board of Education, Portland Public School District 1J, Multnomah County, Oregon, had a hearing on the proposed Pioneer Technology Public Charter School.  Several key individuals from Magnolia were present, and the school was openly presented as being modeled after the Magnolia Science Academy schools in California.  One of the most revealing lines of the meeting minutes was (our boldface): "There was discussion of the replication of the program throughout the US."

In an unsuccessful application for a new branch of the Lotus School for Excellence, Magnolia was said to be part of a "coalition" of charter schools including Coral Academy of Science, Lotus School for Excellence, and Sonoran Science Academy.  Data on the Magnolia schools were used to support the application, a further indication that all these schools follow the same model.

The Magnolia schools have purchased services from the Accord Institute for Education Research and Apex Educational Services (e.g. for MagnoXP, Magnolia's online information system), both of which are or were at one time housed in the same building as the Pacifica Institute (a Gulenist dialog organization) in Irvine California.

Kismet Investment Properties, Inc., a commercial real estate corporation, has been involved in real estate lease deals for Magnolia charter schools, and is/was located near Accord, Pacifica and Apex in Irvine, California.  

Further connections with the Gulen Movement are shown by the multiple affiliations (both past and present) of the following individuals:

Buket Aktas

• Board member, Magnolia Science Academy
• ESL teacher, Safiye Sultan Lisesi (Gulenist high school in Turkey)
• ESL teacher, Fatih University  (Gulenist institution)

Murat “Brad” Akbas

• Petitioner, Pioneer Technology School, Oregon (proposed Gulen charter)
• CEO - Accord Institute (Gulenist)
• Turkish Language Institute, Inc. (organization that runs the Turkish Language and Performing Arts Contest in Phoenix, which is one of the branches of the Turkish Language Olympics, a Gulenist competition active worldwide)
• Gave 5-star review of Jill Carroll’s book Dialogue of Civilizations at Academic Superstore online bookstore
• Bought home from Ahmet G Idil

Al Ataizi a.k.a. Alp Ataizi

• Apex Educational Services, MagnoXP
• Wife Nichole Ataizi works for Magnolia schools, is board member of MERF
• Pacifica Institute
• Likes Ebru TV on Facebook

Suat Utku Ay

• Magnolia Science Academy board member
• Dialog Cultural, Scientific and Educational Foundation, Reseda, California
• Board of Directors, Accord Institute for Educational Research
• Author, Fountain Magazine

Suleyman Bahceci

• CEO Magnolia schools, Magnolia Education and Research Foundation
• Treasurer, Willow Education Foundation (charter holder of Bay Area Technology School, a Gulen charter school)
• Personal loan of $30000 to Beehive Science and Technology Academy (Gulen charter school) while working at the Accord Institute
• Board member, Accord Institute (Gulenist)
• Follows/followed Alptekin Kavi (see Lotus School page) on Twitter

Yavuz Bayam

• Board of Directors, Magnolia Science Academy 5, 6, 7
• Magnolia Educational and Research Foundation, Secretary
• Board member, Dialog Cultural, Scientific and Educational Foundation
• Principal, Pacific Technology School Orangevale
• In Nov 2009 newspaper article, says he “hails from India”
• Guide on Marty Stortz’s Gulenist Turkey trip
• In briefings of the Charter Schools Division of the Los Angeles School Board in connection with applications for Magnolia Science Academy 5, 6 and 7, board member Bayam is described only as a “visiting Scholar at UC Davis”

Murat Biyik (sometimes misspelled Morat Biyik)

• Principal, Magnolia Science Academy 5
• Sonoran Science Academy
• Beehive Science and Techonology Academy
• Personal loan of $61,000 to Beehive Science and Techonology Academy

Suleyman Bulut

• Board member, Dialog Cultural and Scientific Educational Foundation
• Apex Educational Services (Gulenist business)

Adnan Doyuran

• Momentum Middle School (now Magnolia Science Academy)
• Lotus School for Excellence (Gulen charter school in Colorado)
• Orange Science Academy (proposed Gulen charter school in California)
• Sequoia Science Academy (proposed Gulen charter school in California)

Bahtiyar Erdogan

• CEO, Kismet Investment Property
• Vice President, California Turkish American Chamber of Commerce (Gulenist)
• Interfaith Dialog Center, New Jersey  (Gulenist)
• E & M Light Construction Limited Company, along with Mehmet F Taskan, who has been involved with Gulen charter schools and charter holder companies in Florida

Erdem Ersoz

• Magnolia Science Academy
• Pacific Technology School

Engin Eryilmaz

• Magnolia Science Academy
• Isik College, Australia  (Gulenist school)

Nuh Gedik

• Board of Directors, Magnolia Science Academy 6
• Magnolia Educational and Research Foundation
• Board of Directors, Dialog Cultural, Scientific and Educational Foundation
• Author of 2 articles in Fountain Magazine  (Gulenist publication; Fethullah Gulen writes lead article of each issue)
• Guest speaker, Accord Institute AMSP summer camp
• Trustee, Board Member, Pioneer Charter School of Science

Andy Gokce

• Petitioner, Magnolia Science Academy—Santa Clara Charter School
• Petitioner, Pioneer Technology Charter School, Portland  (proposed Gulen charter school)

Hakan Golbasi

• Spoke at 2009 Santa Clara Board of Education meeting as "parent" in favor of Magnolia Science Academy – Santa Clara
• Gave 5-star review on amazon.com to Jill Carroll’s book on Fethullah Gulen, “Dialogue of Civilizations”

Ali Gurel

• Accord Institute math coach
• Petitioner, Orange Science Academy, proposed Gulen charter school in CA

Varol Gurler

• Magnolia Science Academy Reseda
• Sonoran Science Academy, Arizona
• Lotus School for Excellence, Colorado

Alper Halbutogullari

• Spoke at 2009 Santa Clara Board of Education meeting as "parent" in favor of Magnolia Science Academy – Santa Clara
• Accord Institute for Education Research

Huseyin "Joseph" Hurmali

• Board President - Magnolia Educational and Research Foundation
• Bought home from Ahmet G Idil

Ahmet G Idil

• Magnolia Science Academy 
• Agent for Kismet Investment Property, Inc.  (Gulenist company)
• Tughra Books  (Gulenist publisher of many books by Fethullah Gulen or other members of the Gulen Movement)

Davut Karabay, a.k.a. Davud Karabay

• Treasurer, Financial Advisor, Rose Education Center, charter company for Pioneer Technology School, proposed Gulen charter school in Oregon
• Development Team, Pioneer Technology Charter School, as per application
• Acacia Foundation (Gulenist organization in state of Washington)
• Connected to Ali Ozmez on Facebook; Ozmez' wife Senay Ozmez was affiliated with Daisy Education Corporation in Arizona

Hakki Karaman

• Magnolia Science Academy 3
• Principal, Syracuse Academy of Science

Fatih Karatas

• Magnolia Science Academy 1 Reseda
• Principal, Sonoran Science Academy

Nazmi M Kaynak a.k.a. Mustafa Nazmi Kaynak

• Magnolia Science Academy
• Pacific Technology School

Mustafa Keskin

• Magnolia Science Academy
• Rose Education Center, charter holder company for Pioneer Technology School (proposed Gulen charter school in Oregon)

Selcuk "Steven" Keskinturk

• Pacific Technology School Santa Ana
• Vice Prinicpal, Teacher, Bay Area Technology School

Ozgur Koca

• Pacifica Institute
• Magnolia Science Academy, Reseda

Ertugrul Kostereli, a.k.a. Ertugrul Kosterelli

• Petitioner, Pioneer Technology School (proposed Gulen charter school in Portland, Oregon)
• Rose Education Center (charter holder company for proposed Pioneer school)
• Foundation for Intercultural Dialog, Arizona  (Gulenist)
• Advertised Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival (Gulenist event) as “must-see event” on TASCA's Facebook page 
• Gave talk entitled "Gulen Movement" at Interfaith Council of Greater Portland, 2008

Adem Kutlug

• Agent for Kismet Investment Property, Inc.
• Secretary, Tolerance Foundation, which shares/shared the same address as Pacifica Institute

Metin Oguzmert

• Magnolia Education and Research Foundation
• Magnolia Science Academy
• Spoke about Whirling Dervishes event in Syracuse, NY newspaper article; Gulenists actively promote such events nationwide, as the Whirling Dervishes have religious significance for them
• Received $5000 award in 2003, along with Bulent Cetinkaya and Huseyin Polat for "Science Academy Schools" template business plan in Entrepreneurship Competition organized by Whitman School of Business at Syracuse University.  Note that by 2003, a number of Gulen "science academy" schools had already been in existence for several years.

Omer Oralkan

• Lead petitioner, Magnolia Science Academy-Santa Clara
• Technology advisor, Bay Area Technology School (Gulen charter school)
• Pacifica Institute  (Gulenist)

Fevzi Oten

• Kismet Investment Properties, Inc.
• Tolerance Foundation  (Gulenist)
• Brother of Remzi Oten

Remzi “Ramsey” Oten

• Dialog Cultural, Scientific and Educational Foundation(original charter holder of Magnolia Science Academy schools)
• California Turkish American Chamber of Commerce  (Gulenist)
• TUSKON  (Gulenist trade organization)
• Brother of Fevzi Oten

Ismail “Ike” Ozis

• Magnolia Science Academy 6 Palms
• Magnolia Science Academy Bell
• Pacifica Institute  (Gulenist)

Orhan Ozis

• Apex Educational Services  (Gulenist company associated with Magnolia Science Academy)
• Likes CATA Chamber on Facebook
• Likes Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival on Facebook

Timur “Tim” Saka

• Magnolia Science Academy Reseda
• Beehive Science and Technology Academy  (Gulen charter school)
• Lotus School for Excellence  (Gulen charter school)

Ridvan Sahan

• Spoke at 2009 Santa Clara Board of Education meeting as "parent" in favor of Magnolia Science Academy – Santa Clara
• Pacifica Institute  (Gulenist)

Ertan Salik

• President, Magnolia Science Academy
• Dialog Cultural, Scientific and Educational Foundation
• Accord Institute for Education Research
• Author, Fountain Magazine (Gulenist publication; Fethullah Gulen writes lead article of each issue)
• Petitioner, Orange Science Academy (proposed Gulen charter school in CA)
• President, Vice President, Dialog Cultural, Scientific & Educational Foundation

Fatih Sarigoz

• Magnolia Science Academy
• President, Silicon Valley branch of the Pacifica Institute  (Gulenist)
• Lehigh Mosaica Foundation  (Gulenist)
• Wife Serap Sarigoz likes Bay Area Cultural Connections (Gulenist) on Facebook
• Follows/followed Alptekin Kavi (see Lotus School page) on Twitter
• Spoke at 2009 Santa Clara Board of Education meeting as "engineer" in favor of Magnolia Science Academy – Santa Clara

Osman Sen

• Magnolia Science Academy
• Board member, Accord Institute for Education Research

Saken Sherkhanov

• Vice President, Magnolia Education and Research Foundation
• Author, Fountain Magazine (Gulenist publication; Fethullah Gulen writes lead article of each issue)
• Facebook friend of Fatih Karatas
• Petitioner, Orange Science Academy, Gulen charter school proposed in 2006

Dean Sumer

• Magnolia Science Academy
• VATAN, Ventura County American Turkish Association  (Gulenist)

Duygu Ustun

• Pacific Technology School
• Magnolia Science Academy
• Board member, Magnolia Education and Research Foundation
• CATA Chamber, California Turkish-American Chamber of Commerce (Gulenist)

Tugrul Yanik a.k.a. Yanik Tygryl

• Rose Education Center, Oregon (charter holder company for Pioneer Technology School, proposed replication of Magnolia Science Academy in Oregon)
• Fatih University (Gulenist institution)
• Author, Fountain Magazine  (Gulenist publication; Fethullah Gulen writes lead article of each issue)

Joseph Vural

• Kismet Investment Property, Inc.
• Commented online on Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival

Bayram Yenikaya

• Board member, Magnolia Education and Research Foundation
• Wrote chapter for book Islamic Perspectives on Science: Knowledge and Responsibility, published by The Light (Gulenist publisher)
• Yamanlar College (Gulenist institution)
• Mentioned in 2009 Santa Clara Board of Education meeting minutes as "proposed mathematics tutor" speaking in favor of Magnolia Science Academy – Santa Clara application

David Yilmaz

• Principal, Dean of Academics, Math/Science/Computer Teacher, Magnolia Science Academy San Diego
• Math/Science/Computer Teacher, Magnolia Science Academy 1 Reseda
• Petitioner, Pioneer Technology School (proposed Gulen charter school in Oregon)
• Chief Academic Officer, Magnolia Public Schools

Erhan “Ed” Yilmaz

• Magnolia Science Academy
• Richmond Science Academy (proposed Gulen charter school in Virginia)

Tevfik Yucek

• Mentioned in 2009 Santa Clara Board of Education meeting as "parent" speaking in favor of Magnolia Science Academy – Santa Clara application
• New Springs, Inc. - Florida company that is charter holder of Gulen charter school

Magnolia Science Academy and the Gulen Turkish Olympiads

Magnolia Science Academy FAMILY (as you are lovingly called by Hizmet)
Did you think your local Turkish Olympiad was unique?  It is a clone of Gulen's
Turkish Olympiad in Turkey representing 115 countries.  Blessed by the AKP
party (Gulen's party) and President Gul of Turkey.  They are pleased that
the children of the world are learning Turkish, dancing Turkish, becoming Turkish
Moslems.

Magnolia Science Academy- article by Steve Elwart

02/05/2011

The Gulen Movement: Islam Taught in Charter Schools

by Steve Elwart, IDB Folio Specialist  |  KHouse.org  |  February 2011 
Over the last twenty years there has been a movement in schools that has changed the way many children are educated—charter schools. Charter schools are public schools, Kindergarten through 12^th grade, that receive public money, but are not subject to the same rules that apply to other public schools. In return, charter schools are accountable to achieve certain goals that are outlined in the school charter.
The goal of a charter school is to provide a better education than can be received though the normal public schools. Some of the schools specialize in certain fields; i.e., mathematics and the sciences. Attendance at charter schools is voluntary and the schools are not allowed to charge tuition. In most cases, the charter schools are doing well—59% of the schools have a waiting list to enroll.¹
Within the charter school system, though, there is a danger. There is a group of charter schools that may be teaching more than ABC’s. They have innocuous names like Chicago Math and Science Academy and Pioneer Charter School of Science. Currently, they are educating as many as 35,000 students in 100 publicly funded schools and make up the largest charter school network in the United States. They promote an Islamic agenda, but receive government money, unlike other religious schools in the United States. These are the schools that are part of what is called Fethullah Gülen Community (FGC), also known as “the Gülen Movement.”

Over the past 10 years, the schools have imported thousands of Turkish educators to work in the schools, most of them with ties to a Turkish Muslim named Fethullah Gülen, who lives in a small Pennsylvania town called Saylorsburg. Gülen is described by his followers as a moderate Muslim and has been called “contemporary Islam’s Billy Graham.”²
Who is Fethullah Gülen?
Fethullah Gülen (pictured) is a Turkish preacher who has started a worldwide network of Muslims to take the principles of Islam and move the religion into the modern world. He was born in 1938 in a village in eastern Turkey. His father was an Imam, and from him, Gülen learned the principles of Islam.
Gülen’s beliefs are connected to Sufism, a mystical form of Islam. He became an Imam in his own right in 1957 when he was appointed to a mosque in Edirne, Turkey, near the Bulgarian border. It was there he came to learn the teachings of Said-i Nursi (1876-1960), a politically active Kurdish preacher. Nursi taught that Muslims should not reject modernity, but engage with it. Gülen put Nursi’s ideas into practice when he was transferred to a mosque in Izmir in 1966. (Izmir is the present-day name for Smyrna, one of the Seven Churches Christ wrote to in Revelation 2.) From this pro-Western base, Gülen started a network of student boarding-houses known as “lighthouses.”
It was in Izmir that Gülen applied Nursi’s teaching to create a network of private schools, residences and later universities and turn them into centers of excellence promoting a modern, Islam-based ethical framework.³ From this base in Turkey, Gülen expanded his network into countries that make up the former Soviet Union, the Balkans and finally the West. He started to make inroads into the secular world in earnest after he moved to the United States in 1997.
Once in the United States, Gülen applied for permanent re-sidency, which was denied. The Department of Homeland Security characterized Gülen as neither an expert in the field of education nor an educator but rather as “the leader of a large and influential religious and political movement with immense commercial holdings.”⁴ (His formal education is limited to five years of elementary school.)⁵ In their written denial, U.S. attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security also stated a suspicion about CIA involvement in funding the Gülen Movement’s global projects. His visa was approved after his appeal, with the help of several CIA agents. Gülen moved to South-eastern Pennsylvania and established his network of schools in the United States.
Gülen’s Educational Philosophy and Gülen Schools
A religious-based educational philosophy is one of Gülen’s primary themes; he has very specific notions about the way in which children should be instructed in schools, some of which are described in “The Educational Philosophy of Fethullah Gülen and Its Application in South Africa.”
The Gülen charter schools are founded and operated by Turkish immigrants (male scientists and businessmen) who can often be tied to the American Gülenist organizations. An unusually strong pattern of similarities in their establishment and operation indicates that these U.S. schools are likely tied into a larger network of international Gülen schools. However, the operators of the schools are extremely reluctant to discuss Gülen, the Gülen Movement, or Gülen’s approach to education. Sometimes they will admit that the schools are “Gülen-inspired.”
The schools’ connection to Gülen’s educational philosophy is never volunteered to the public; it is not mentioned on the web sites or in the charter school petitions. In other countries, the Gülen schools are tuition-based, but as charter schools, the U.S. Gülen schools receive public state and federal funds. American news organizations have done little to inform the public about the Gülen Movement, its schools, or any deeper significance or associated controversies. To date, only one news story has been produced by the mainstream press, USA To-day’s “Objectives of charter schools with Turkish connections questioned.”⁶
Broad public awareness about the Gülen charter schools has not yet occurred. One reason this national phenomenon has gone unnoticed for so long is because charter school authorization is fragmented and oversight is local and inadequate. It has taken awhile for anyone to become aware that there is a multi-district, multi-state charter school pattern in operation.
Each year that goes by, more and more U.S. tax dollars have become involved with the establishment and support of these Gülen charter schools with very little public discussion about using taxes to fund them.
Taken individually, the Gülenist schools seem quite promising and their oddities are not noticeable. However, despite the schools and school clusters claiming to have no, or minimal, affiliation with one another, they have extremely unusual similarities, which they even share with the international Gülen schools. The characteristics of these schools will include most of the following:

• Emphasis on math and science; yet little experimental science.
• High scores on standardized tests, even in cases of very challenging demographics.
• Chronic problems with special education compliance.
• High teacher turnover; teachers, administrators disappear and appear mysteriously.
• High usage of H-1B Visas to fill staffing needs.⁷
• Turkish cultural activities such as Turkish clubs, elaborately costumed student participation in regional “Turkish Olympiads” and class trips to Anatolian/Turkish festivals.
• School-sponsored trips to Turkey, usually disguised as “International” or “European” trips (scan the photo galleries on the school web sites).

Even with the large number of foreign-born Islamic teachers and administrators in the Gülen school network, why should people be concerned about these charter schools? One reason is given by Bayram Balci, a Turkish scholar with the Institut Français d’Etudes sur l’Asie Centrale in Grenoble, France. Dr. Balci states that Gülen schools have been established through-out the world to bring about a universal caliphate ruled by Islamic law.⁸ Graham Fuller, a former CIA agent and the author of several books on political Islam, says that Gülen is leading “one of the most important movements in the Muslim world today.”⁹
In a sermon that was aired on Turkish television, Gülen said:

You must move in the arteries of the system without anyone noticing your existence until you reach all the power centers…until the conditions are ripe, they [the followers] must continue like this. If they do something prematurely, the world will crush our heads, and Muslims will suffer everywhere, like in the tragedies in Algeria, like in 1982 [in] Syria…like in the yearly disasters and tragedies in Egypt. The time is not yet right. You must wait for the time when you are complete and conditions are ripe, until we can shoulder the entire world and carry it…You must wait until such time as you have gotten all the state power, until you have brought to your side all the power of the constitutional institutions in Turkey…Until that time, any step taken would be too early—like breaking an egg without waiting the full forty days for it to hatch. It would be like killing the chick inside. The work to be done is [in] con-fronting the world. Now, I have expressed my feelings and thoughts to you all—in confidence …trusting your loyalty and secrecy. I know that when you leave here—[just] as you discard your empty juice boxes, you must discard the thoughts and the feelings that I expressed here.¹⁰

Gülen does not approve of the title, “Gülen Movement.” In-stead he refers to it as a “volunteers’ (hizmet) movement.” Hizmet is one of the highest duties in Islam, implying both a religious and national service. Gülen’s community of followers is known as the cemaat. He is referred to as their hocaefendi (master lord).
Several countries have outlawed the establishment of Gülen schools, including Russia and Uzbekistan. Even the Nether-lands, a nation that embraces “pluralism” and “tolerance,” has opted to cut funding to the Gülen schools because of its aggressive promotion of Islam. One of these charter schools—Tarek ibn Zayed Academy (TiZA) in Minnesota—is so radically Islamic and subversive in nature that the Minnesota Department of Education issued two citations against it and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing it.¹¹
Equally disturbing is the encroachment of the Gülen Movement into American politics. The FGC is known to have sup-ported the election campaigns of various U.S. politicians. These same politicians also sought the blessing of the Gülen Movement by appearing at FGC events. For instance, Hillary Clinton is known to have attended FGC events in the U.S., including a September 2007 Ramadan breakfast organized by the Gülenist Turkish Cultural Center in New York City.
Dalia Mogahed is a Senior Analyst and Executive Director at the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies. She is also an advisor on Islamic Affairs to President Barack Obama and a strong supporter of the Gülen Movement. When asked about the movement’s hidden agenda, Mogahed was quoted as saying that she does not attach any importance to such allegations: “It [the Gülen Movement] has moved beyond Turkey in its very benevolent projects and it serves people from all around the world of all backgrounds, but it is still made up mostly of Turks. That is what I feel is in need of expanding,” she said.¹²
One can draw parallels between the United States and the Northern Kingdom written about in the Book of Hosea. Both had advanced technologies and unparalleled prosperity. Also, they both had evidence of moral decay: they rejected God throughout the culture. Hosea then chronicles the Northern Kingdom’s suffering from God’s judgment: he gave the Kingdom over to Assyria, a country now made up of Iraq, Syria, and parts of Iran, Egypt, and Turkey. All of these countries are now predominantly Muslim.
Is God giving the United States over to modern-day “Assyrians”? Imagine a cityscape in which the minaret, not the church steeple, dominates. Many fear that the “Ground Zero Mosque” may be the start of just such a skyline. After the morning of September 11, 2001, Americans remain perplexed about the faith of Islam. How could a religion like Islam make young men decide to fly airplanes into buildings? How could such a view of the world produce such zealots? Such world-views are complex and confusing to the Western mind. Schools such as those in the Gülen Movement promote a skewed view of the world and expose young minds to the dangers of Islam.
Americans should ask how the Gülen Movement has man-aged to establish such inroads into the American education system. It is a movement that needs to have oversight and must be made to conform to the laws of the United States, just as any other education institution that receives public funding.

* * *

Danene Vincent, Silver Medallion holder, did the original research for this article. Steve Elwart can be contacted at Steve.Elwart@studycenter.com.
Notes:

1.    http://www.edreform.com/Archive/?Annual_Survey_of_Americas_Charter_Schools_2008. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
2.    “Objectives of charter schools with Turkish ties questioned”: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-08-17-turkishfinal17_CV_N.htm.
3.    New York Times. (2008, January 8). TURKEY: Fethullah Gülen profile
4.    Fethullah Gülen’s Grand Ambition, The Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2009, http://www.meforum.org/2045/fethullah-gulens-grand-ambition#ftn51.
5.    Ibid.
6.    Greg Toppo (August 17, 2010), http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-08-17-turkishfinal17_CV_N.htm.
7.    The H-1B visa allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign work-ers in specialty occupations.
8.    Fethullah Gülen’s Missionary Schools in Central Asia and their Role in the Spreading of Turkism and Islam, Religion, State & Society, Vol. 31, No. 2, 2003, ISSN 0963-7494 print/ISSN 1465-3975 online/03/020151-27
9.    “Objectives of charter schools with Turkish ties questioned”: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-08-17-turkishfinal17_CV_N.htm.
10.    World’s “Most Dangerous Islamist” Alive, Well, and Living in Pennsyl-vania, Paul Williams, Ph.D., April 7, 2010, Family Security Matters.
11.    Ibid.
12.    Williams, Paul. “White House Muslim Advisor Supports Islamist Gülen Movement.” www.familysecuritymatters.org. Family Security Matters, 15 Jun. 2010. Web. 15 Aug. 2010.  http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.6467/pub_detail.asp
Source:  http://www.khouse.org/articles/2011/971

Magnolia Science Academy - Kerry Mazzoni on so-called "Gulen Charter Sch...

This is why Kerry is a 'FORMER' secretary of education and assemblywoman.
Kerry has no current knowledge of Magnolia Science Academy or any other
educational insitute.  Kerry Mazzoni is a paid speaker and did a speaking engagement
for Magnolia for $$$.  Maybe we can find the campaign contributions Pacifica, etc.,
donated to Kerry's failed campaign.  Note to who filmed this PR video....you will
have to do better than Kerry's word which means nothing to anyone that matter.  Kerry has been
out of office since 2000 BEFORE the first Gulen Charter School opened in California.  Hizmet, keep
craming a video or camera infront of your paid visitors or candidates running for office. 
Here is her unimpressive bio.

Kerry Mazzoni is a former California State Assemblywoman who represented the 6th District, consisting of Marin County and part of Sonoma County, from 1994 to 2000.
Mazzoni was a member of the Novato School Board. She defeated incumbent Vivien Bronshvag in the 1994 primary. She defeated Petaluma City Councilman Brian Sobel in the general election. Mazzoni was term limited out of office in 2000.
She later served as State Education Secretary in the administration of Governor Gray Davis. Mazzoni served as secretary until Davis was recalled in 2003. Mazzoni subsequently worked as a lobbyist and campaign consultant.^[1]
On March 8, 2010, the Marin Independent Journal reported Mazzoni would run for the District One seat on the Marin County Board of Supervisors against incumbent Susan Adams, and was quoted as saying she wanted to "offer a different perspective" on Marin County political issues, including a controversial local energy authority alternative to service provided by Pacific Gas and Electric.^[1]
Mazzoni is an alumna of the University of California at Davis.\

UPDATE:  it seems Ms. Mazzoni works as a treasurer for a newly formed lobbying group in Sacramento called "Government Strategies"  http://www.teamgsi.net/index-2.html
Magnolia Science Academy is Kerry Mazzoni's client.
So much for unbiased information, Kerry was paid for this appearance AND the Gulen Movement has posted this silly video 10 times on UTube as if posting it 10 times will make them any more credible.