ANAHEIM – Charter schools have a small presence in Orange County, but concern over their future growth drew some 900 educators, parents and students to a film screening of a new documentary highly critical of school charter groups with alleged ties to a Turkish religious movement.
Led by Anaheim Union High School District Superintendent Mike Matsuda, a panel discussion followed the showing of “Killing Ed” in the Anaheim High School auditorium Tuesday night.
Matsuda and the Anaheim Union school board in December published an opinion piece criticizing charters, including Westminster-based Magnolia Public Schools, which it alleges is part of a large network of charter schools connected to a wealthy Turkish imam, Fethullah Gulen. He is considered a controversial and powerful opponent to the Turkish government.
“We wanted to show this documentary because of the critical lack of transparency in the Gulen organization. My question was and continues to be: what do they have to hide?” Matsuda told the crowd.
Magnolia leaders deny connections to Gulen or his movement.
“Absolutely, categorically, Magnolia has nothing to do with the Gulen movement as an institution,” said Caprice Young, Magnolia’s CEO and superintendent. lying bitch Caprice, you know the truth.
Magnolia has 11 charter schools, including the Magnolia Science Academy in Santa Ana. The group is looking to expand with 10 new schools in California, including campuses in the Anaheim City, Anaheim Union, Garden Grove Unified and Santa Ana Unified school districts. But it has met with push back from some local educators.
At Tuesday’s viewing, a representative from Magnolia was “kicked out” and not allowed at the event, Young said. Good, keep your little scabs out, and tools of the Gulen Movement away.
“I don’t understand how you can have a screening with ... the school board members there and the public was excluded,” Young said Wednesday. You "don't understand" - it's called NO ONE WANTS YOU OR YOUR SCHOOLS
The event was an invitation-only function and the Magnolia representative did not have a ticket, school board member Al Jabbar said in an e-mail.
The documentary accuses the schools it features of questionable practices, such as hiring unqualified teachers and working with a network of businesses and vendors run by Turkish nationals who profit from the relationships. Magnolia was mentioned once and only briefly in the film.
The panel discussion featured the film’s director, Mark S. Hall; Sharon Higgins, an Oakland woman who has extensively researched the Gulen movement and its schools; and José F. Moreno, a local activist and former school board member who recently co-filed a complaint urging the California Department of Education to investigate Magnolia schools.
After the screening, Matsuda urged attendees to contact their education leaders and call for new legislation to regulate charter schools, which are publicly funded independent schools billed by advocates as a way to offer families greater choices in education.
Anaheim Union is urging other districts to ask the state for a temporary moratorium on all new charter schools. Anaheim Union trustees plan to take up a resolution Thursday.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/schools-707539-magnolia-school.html
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