Magnolia Science Academy DENIED 3 schools renewal

http://www.15july2016.turkishsquare.com/accord-institute-of-education-research-apex-educational-services/

Evidence of affiliation with Gulen Movement and financial conflicts of interest

The Accord Institute provides management/educational services to several member (charter) schools in western states, in return for a per-student fee.  Apex Educational Services is a provider of IT and security surveillance system services to Gulen charter schools.  Accord and Apex have close ties.

Accord member schools (all publicly-funded Gulen charter schools):

• Beehive Science and Technology Academy in Utah
• Coral Academy of Science schools in Nevada
• Lotus School for Excellence in Colorado
• Magnolia Science Academy chain in California
• Sonoran Science Academy chain and Paragon Science Academy in Arizona

The Accord logo appears on the websites of the member schools.  The website of at least one Magnolia Science Academy school describes Accord as “our partner.”

Some failed Gulen charter schools applications have included Accord membership as part of their educational and administrative plan; this includes the proposed Pioneer Technology Public Charter School in Oregon, and two proposed replications of Lotus School for Excellence in Colorado.

Reasons why the close ties between Accord, Apex, Gulen charter schools, and the Gulen Movement are a concern:
(1) The connection of the charter schools with the Gulen Movement has been publicly denied by school administrators.
(2) Significant overlap in board membership between management organizations and charter schools is widely considered inadvisable, and was a subject of stiff criticism in the report Authorized Abuse on Ohio charter schools.  Accord is a de facto management organization.
(3) There is a broad consensus that charter schools should not do business with entities with which they have close ties, as it creates a conflict of interest.  It is very difficult to ensure that charter schools are not paying inflated prices or buying services they do not need when the school administrators have a financial interest in the corporations selling the services.  This holds even if the companies in question have legal non-profit status, as individuals can still personally benefit from their association with a non-profit corporation.

Gulenist strategic ambiguity: Accord’s website gives its name as the “Accord Institute for Education Research;” however, on tax documents it appears as “Accord Institute of Education Research.”  (These small discrepancies can make it harder to track an organization.)

On October 22, 2010, an Arizona news article What does $364K in tax money buy these charter schools? discussed the Accord membership fees, apparently $160 per student annually, and raised the question of whether the services provided in exchange for them justify the expense.

Accord runs the AMSP (advanced math) program, the MathMatters competition, and the Gauss League competition.  Only its member Gulen charter schools participate in these events.

Accord has hired employees using H-1B visas, a characteristic of Gulenist organizations.

The Magnolia Schools Quarterly Newsletter of Fall 2009 states that “Magnolia Foundation has partnered with the Accord Institute and APEX Educational Services in this project. The final outcome is a brand new software that we present to Magnolia Schools: Cool School Information System (CoolSIS).”  This document explains that CoolSIS replaces MagnoXP: “Magnolia started to develop its own School Information System in 2002 and named it MagnoXP.”  Strangely, the Apex website shows both MagnoXP and CoolSIS as Apex products and makes no mention of Magnolia.

In summer 2008, Accord held a workshop for teachers and administrators at Gulen charter schools.  The workshop program shows that attendees were all Gulenist and either of Turkish or Central Asian origin/ethnicity, and only one attendee was female.  This was a subject of criticism, and in response, Accord held another workshop in summer 2010 that included non-Gulenist teachers (and some women) from Gulen charter schools.

Baris Aksakal was employed at Apex; his description of his work experience shows how Apex’s business is centered around Gulen charter schools:  “Carried out on-site installation, configuration and wiring of Windows 2000/2003 servers, workstations, IP cameras, NBX phones, 3com switches and routers to over 20 charter schools.   ….Provided technical support to school administration on using the system and creating accounts.”

Grants and Grant applications

The following grants and grant applications indicate a close link between Accord, Apex and Gulen charter schools in the west:

California State Fiscal Stabilization Fund – Education Fund  
Sub-Award Number 08-25008-C986-01
Sub-award recipient: Magnolia Science Academy 4
Amount: $25,214
Date: 04/17/2009
Sub-recipient vendors: Accord Institute and MERF; Apex Educational

California State Fiscal Stabilization Fund – Education Fund  
Sub-Award Number 08-25008-C987-01
Sub-award recipient: Magnolia Science Academy 5
Amount: $26,552
Date: 04/17/2009
Sub-recipient vendors: Accord Institute and MERF; Apex Educational

US Department of Education i3 grant application
Daisy Education Corporation (DEC) College-bound STEM Education Model 
Funding requested: $6,372,274
Budget partner:  Accord Institute for Education Research (Official)  $450,000
(Note that Daisy Education Corporation is the charter holder of the Sonoran Science Academy chain and Paragon Science Academy.)

Shared street addresses showing close ties

The close connection between Accord, Apex and the Gulen Movement is further shown by the following street addresses used by multiple Gulenist entities:

906 Veneto Drive Irvine CA

• Accord Institute of Education Research
• Turkish Language Institute Inc (Gulenist organization; its website produced by Westwood Production, a Gulenist business)

1415 Warner Ave Tustin CA

• Accord Institute of Education Research
• Kismet Investment Properties, Inc  (Gulenist business that has had real estate deals with the Magnolia Gulen charter schools in California)

13950 Milton Ave Westminster CA 92683

• Accord Institute of Education Research
• Magnolia Foundation (charter holder of Magnolia Science Academy chain; Pacific Technology Schools)

17851 Sky Park Circle Irvine CA 92614

• Site of Accord Institute 2008 summer conference (building floor plan showed sections labeled “Pacifica,” “Apex” and “Accord,” indicating all three organizations had office space in this building)

• Tolerance Foundation  (Gulenist dialog organization)
• Global Cultural Connections  (Gulenist dialog organization)
• Pacifica Institute  (Gulenist dialog organization)

17911 Sky Park Circle Irvine CA 92614

• Apex Educational Services
• Kismet Investment Properties

Organic ties through individuals

In addition, the connection of Accord and Apex to the Gulen Movement is evidenced by the multiple affiliations, both past and present, of the following individuals:

Al Ataizi a.k.a. Alp Ataizi

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

Suat Utku Ay, a.k.a. S Utku Ay

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

Murat “Brad” Akbas

• Accord Institute of Educational Research
• Turkish Language Institute Inc  (Gulenist)
• Teacher, Gulen school in Mongolia (at that time, run by Ufuk company)
• Wrote 5-star online review of Jill Carroll’s “Dialogue of Civilizations,” which gave a very favorable depiction of Fethullah Gulen

Suleyman Bahceci

• Board member, guest lecturer, Accord Institute of Education Research
• 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
• Graduate of Yamanlar College (private Gulen school in Turkey)
• Follows/followed Alptekin Kavi (see Lotus School page) on Twitter

Ibrahim Bayraktar

• Accord Institute of Education Research
• Teacher, Sarajevo College and Bihac College in Bosnia-Herzegovina (private Gulen schools)
• Sonoran Science Academy  (Gulen charter school)

Suleyman Bulut

• Apex Educational Services
• Attended conference, Accord Institute of Education Research
• Pacific Technology School  (Gulen charter school)
• Dialog Foundation  (charter holder of Magnolia Science Academy schools; later renamed MERF, the Magnolia Education and Research Foundation)

Yasin Cetindil (misspelled Yasin Cetindilin on Accord tax documents)

• Accord Institute of Education Research, AMSP coordinator
• Taught at Yamanlar College  (private Gulen high school in Turkey)

Volkan Ersoy

• Apex Educational Services
• Participated in conference, Accord Institute of Education Research
• MagnoXP school information system
• West America Turkic Council  (Gulenist organization, member of Gulenist Turkic American Alliance)

Abdullah Ficici

• Accord Institute of Education Research
• Putnam Science Academy  (private Gulen school)
• Brooklyn Amity School  (private Gulen school)
• Intercultural Dialogue Association of University of South Alabama  (Gulenist)
• Mobile International Festival  (Gulenist event)
• Gulenist Turkey trip guide to residents of Mobile, Alabama
• Teacher, PakTurk school  (private Gulen school in Pakistan)
• Teacher, Gulen school, Turkey

Fatih Gelgi

• Accord Institute of Education Research
• Apex Educational Services
• Dialog Foundation, Reseda CA (charter holder of Magnolia Science Academy schools; later changed named to MERF – Magnolia Education & Research Foundation)
• Magnolia Science Academy
• Foundation for Inter-Cultural Dialogue, Arizona  (Gulenist)
• Volunteer mentor, Sonoran Science Academy Phoenix  (Gulen charter school)

Mustafa Gunaydin

• “Completed training with Accord Institute for Education Research on Business Management and QuickBooks” according to his biographical sketch.  Note that nothing on the Accord website or on its tax documents indicates that it provides training in accounting.
• Business Manager, Coral Academy of Science

Ali Gurel

• Math coach, Accord Institute of Education Research
• Petitioner, Orange Science Academy  (proposed Gulen charter school in CA)

Alper Halbutogullari

• Accord Institute of Education Research (A-Star program)
• Spoke at 2009 Santa Clara Board of Education meeting as “parent” in favor of Magnolia Science Academy – Santa Clara
• Wife Meryem Halbutogullari participates in events such as Noah’s Pudding at Pacifica Institute (Gulenist); affiliated with Bay Area Cultural Connections (Gulenist)
• Math Counts coach for Silicon Valley Academy, a private school.  (Not a Gulen school, but has some resemblence to Gulen school template.  Originally a charter school, converted to private in 2002 after authorities found it was illegally teaching religion.)

Ahmet G Idil

• Real estate agent who sold Accord Institute property to Brad Akbas
• Broker-Accounting at Kismet Investment Properties
• Marketing-Accounting Manager at Tughra Books  (Gulenist publishing company)
• Business Manager at Magnolia Science Academy/MERF
• Manager at Bosphorous Education Corporation  (Gulenist company)

Bunyamin “Ben” Karaduman

• Moderator of session on “Accord’s school model” at 2008 summer conference
• Director, Coral Academy of Science
• Executive Director, WEDUF – Washington Education Foundation, which has the “Pinnacle school model,” with the same 4 pillars as the Accord school model (see Organic Ties page)
• Petitioner, First State Math and Science Academy  (proposed Gulen charter school in Delaware)

Mehmet Kaysi

• Accord Institute of Education Research
• While located in Irvine, California, registrant of MATEMATIKOLIMPIYATI.ORG domain, the website of International Mathematics Olympiads inTurkey  (a competition that he himself won a medal in in 2004)
• Izmir Ozel Yamanlar Fen Lisesi  (a.k.a. Yamanlar College, private Gulen high school in Turkey)

Adem “Adam” Oksuz

• Ex-Director, Accord Institute of Education Research
• Superintendent, Daisy Education Corporation  (His Linked In profile, as well as webpages relating to Daisy and Sonoran Science Academy, have been inconsistent and ambiguous about his exact position and duration of employment with Daisy/Sonoran.  Some of the information, including his job title, has been changed over time.)
• Principal, Sonoran Science Academy
• Oksuz’ signature appears on a power of attorney form attached to Accord’s 2007 IRS Form 990, yet in 2007 the Form 990 for Daisy Education Corporation says “books are in the care of Adam Oksuz.”  This is further proof of very close financial ties between Accord and Daisy.

Ertan Salik

• Accord Institute of Education Research
• Board President, Dialog Foundation (charter holder of Magnolia Science Academy schools; later changed named to MERF – Magnolia Education & Research Foundation)
• Physics and English Teacher, Termez City High School, Uzbekistan (Gulen school)
• School Board President, Magnolia Science Academy, Reseda, CA
• Petitioner, Orange Science Academy Charter School  (proposed Gulen charter school in CA)

Osman Sen

• Accord Institute of Education Research
• Magnolia Science Academy  (Gulen charter school)

Faruk Taban

• Accord Institute of Education Research
• MAFTAA, Mid-Atlantic Federation of Turkic American Associations  (Gulenist)
• Coral Academy of Science  (Gulen charter school in Nevada)
• Judge, Turkish Olympiads   (Gulenist event)
• Organizer of inaugural ATAF (Assembly of Turkic American Federations, later renamed Turkic American Alliance) Gala in Washington DC (see this page for explanation of how this umbrella organization for many other Gulenist organizations in the US is unambiguously connected to the Gulen Movement)

Final note:  documentation supporting all the above connections has been saved.

Turkish Gulen Schools DENIED RENEWAL - 3 Magnolia Schools cite "politics" and "ethnicity/religion" Caprice Young fraud FBI -ATTORNEY GENERAL

Aside all futile attempts by expensive mouthpiece lawyer from Minny, Young & Corr, and a last ditch attempt to use ethnic and religion as a reason for denial the proof is in the fiscal management and overstatement of SBAC scores.  2 years ago Magnolia was pushing API scores but the new and improved testing...something pushed by the gaggle of boards that CEO Caprice Young serves on (profits disguised as non-profits) like Fordham Institute <---which is nothing but a group of profiteers that want educational reform aka privatization of public schools.

Hey its called "ACCOUNTABILITY" Asswipe Jerry Simmons, Magnolia Science Academy has lied about finances and about achievements for 14 years.   Caprice Young may be delusional and believes she can play to the media with her expensive Larson Communications.  Caprice can bark all day long that Magnolia answered all the CDE, OIG and FCMT inquiries but the proof is in the documentation, Caprice & Co., was spared the testimony of 4 more departments because the real 1,000 lb gorilla in the room was the fact that Magnolia Science Academy is and has been a troubled organization from the get go.  Frankly, Caprice Young is a horrible speaker and lacks the training in education to actually know what she is speaking about.  Another overpaid profiteer that should clean up her act and stop lying to media not everyone is for sale like she is.  Magnolia Science Academies are not the vehicle for CCSA to grow the charter movement in California no matter how much Lira the Gulen Movement pays to California Charter School Association.  Criminal crime cartels that smear, vilify and damage candidates that are perceived as pro public education will not be tolerated by the American people.

CCSA tactics are the same as the Gulen Movement no wonder they share the same address and are cozy roommates at 250 E. First St., Los Angeles, CA.  Hey Attorney General you reading?  Nothing like collusion and co- mingling of profit with non-profit funds not to mention all that generous government money bonds, grants, title I-V - DO WE SMELL ANOTHER FBI RAID on Gulen operated charter schools?
http://abc7.com/education/5-lausd-schools-lose-charter-status/1562886/

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) --

Five schools have lost their charter status after the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education voted to deny their renewals Tuesday night.

The five schools include Magnolia Science Academy 1, Magnolia Science Academy 2, Magnolia Science Academy 3, Celerity Dyad and Celerity Troika.

The board could have revoked El Camino Real Charter High School's authority to operate, but decided to stay the action, as long as the school agrees to the district's terms.

The Los Angeles Daily News reported El Camino Real Charter High School's Executive Director David Fehte would resign under a tentative agreement that stops the charter revocation process started by LAUSD.

Under the agreement, Fehte would step down effective Oct. 26, according to The Los Angeles Daily News.

A review by the district found several problems with the high schools including alleged inappropriate spending, claims of importing foreign teachers and having possible conflicts of interest with corporations.

Tuesday's board meeting drew a large crowd of parents and teachers in downtown Los Angeles.

"I believe it's all about LAUSD trying to regain control of all the charters because our kids excel. We have great donors. We raise a lot of money as parents and as a community for our children," El Camino Real Charter High School parent Erin Sanchez said.

LAUSD has the highest number of independently operated charters in the U.S. school system.

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-edu-la-charter-renewal-votes-20161017-snap-story.html

The L.A. school board’s vote was 6 to 0 against a five-year renewal for three schools operated by locally based Magnolia Educational and Research Foundation. Board member George McKenna abstained.

Magnolia came under widespread scrutiny after the Turkish government accused it and other U.S.-based charters with Turkish governing boards of helping foment a failed July coup in Turkey. The schools’ leaders denied any involvement.

A more direct concern for L.A. Unified was Magnolia’s importing of Turkish nationals and their families for teaching and other staff positions. That past practice is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the district’s inspector general. 

Magnolia operates 10 campuses, including eight in L.A. Unified; the ones up for renewal were Magnolia Science Academy 1 in Reseda, Magnolia Science Academy 2 in Van Nuys and Magnolia Science Academy 3 in Carson. 

DON'T BE TOO CONFIDENT CAPRICE YOUNG....There are no favors left for you at the County and State.  You have no clout or credibility, without an expensive publicist you are nothing but a fraud.  

http://patch.com/california/northridge/leader-embattled-charter-schools-confident-shutdowns-will-be-avoided

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, CA -- A leader of two independent charter schools in the San Fernando Valley said in remarks published Friday that she's "very confident" they can avoid shutdowns by appealing their denied renewal petitions to the county and possibly the state.

The Los Angeles Unified school board Tuesday refused to renew three Magnolia schools serving 1,400 sixth- through 12th-grade students, including Magnolia Science Academy campuses in Reseda and Van Nuys, as recommended by district staff.

"I feel angry and frustrated and concerned, but I'm also very optimistic because I think we're going to be successful at making our case at the county level or the state level. We've done that before,” Caprice Young, CEO of Magnolia Public Schools and a former president of the LAUSD school board, told the Los Angeles Daily News.

The district cited the Magnolia schools' failure to timely respond" to document requests from LAUSD’s Office of Inspector General, which has been investigating Magnolia Public Schools for more than two years, and the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team, an external state agency that provides financial oversight.

LAUSD board member Scott M. Schmerelson, who voted against the renewal, said Magnolia appears to have a great educational program but called it "the most secretive school" he has seen, the Daily News reported.

Top 5 facts about Magnolia Science Academy a Gulen school

In recent months there has been a lot of talk about Magnolia Charter Schools of Southern California and their ties to the powerful, reclusive figure Fethullah Gülen, the man considered responsible for the deadly July 15 attempted coup in Turkey.

But aside from the foreign intrigue, the thing that should really worry parents, teachers, students, and taxpayers of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is happening much closer to home – the fact that this charter school organization is allegedly diverting funds away from education.

On October 18, the Board of Education is expected to vote on the recommendations for Magnolia Science Academy 1 in Reseda, Magnolia Science Academy 2 in Van Nuys and Magnolia Science Academy 3 in Carson. They are under tremendous pressure from Magnolia, which is organizing busloads of people, enticing them to come out to “support” the schools in exchange for various freebies. It is widely known that Magnolia also wields tremendous political power – staffers from Sen. Diane Feinstein’s office were conveniently taken on tours of publicity tours of Magnolia campuses this past month, while the school is spending $144,000 a year (of your money) on a top-shelf PR firm.

Undoubtedly, Magnolia’s operations can be confusing. They use numerous front companies and contractors, they constantly deny any wrongdoing, and they repeatedly claim that their charter schools are top performers (for the students that don’t manage to drop out, anyways). It all seems like a big misunderstanding, right?

Wrong. It is very important that this Turkish-operated school chain be held accountable to the law. California’s education budget can ill-afford to have millions of dollars allegedly milked out every year from an unscrupulous group like Magnolia. So to help everybody understand this issue better, we’ve put together a short list of the top-five things you should know about Magnolia Public Schools.

#1: Is Magnolia really connected to this reclusive Turkish billionaire?

Yes, it’s a fact. Look no further than their board, which like all other Gülen schools, is dominated by Turkish males from the so-called Hizmet movement. Many are promoted back and forth between other schools in other states which similarly claim “no affiliation” to Gülen. Like most of their schools, their board is a revolving door to their main contracting company, Accord. Actually, in the case of Umit Yapanel, president of the board of directors of Magnolia Public Schools, he fully admits his connection. That must be quite embarrassing to Magnolia CEO Caprice Young, who has repeatedly claimed the exact opposite.

#2: So what? Why does it matter that they are hiding their affiliation so long as they have good schools?

Yes, it does matter. The success of some Magnolia schools is based on some skewed statistics, while many students fail to complete. It also matters that Magnolia Public Schools continues to act so non-transparently. In fact, this is precisely why the School Board is recommending non-renewal of charter. They are performing well below the state median and they signed an agreement that they would disclose documents monthly to an oversight committee. And then, perhaps as expected, Magnolia refused to send any documents.

#3: Don’t they need to recruit teachers from abroad because there aren’t enough qualified teachers in the US?

Nope. Again, here is another area where Magnolia has stumbled into major problems with the school board. Why should they waste away almost $1 million of taxpayer money to push paperwork to bring in 138 teachers from abroad when there are thousands of unemployed American math and science teachers? Do you want to guess which country the vast majority of these teachers were being recruited from? This scheme is hardly a secret – it’s a criminal enterprise designed to exploit the open schools movement, capture taxpayer funds, and redistribute it through the Gülenist network. If they were trying to bring in the best teachers to give the best classes to California’s students, wouldn’t they come from a variety of countries based on merit?

#4: So how do they manage to benefit if they are just paying rent and paying contractors?

This is what we call self-dealing. Magnolia Public Schools has set up their own contractors and supplier companies, as well as set up their own landlords. In one example, Magnolia handed a $700,000 annual contract to the Accord Institute for Educational Research, an educational services vendor founded by the then-CEO of Magnolia, Suleyman Bahceci. After awarding the inflated contract, Bahceci left Magnolia to take over as CEO of Accord and reap the profits. Who else worked at Accord? None other than the aforementioned Umit Yapanel, while he also served on the board of Lotus Charter School, another client of Accord. In a previous audit, Magnolia was found that they couldn’t account for basic minimum accounting for a staggering 69% of their transactions. Does that sound like a school that should be in charge of taxpayer funds?

#5: OK, so Magnolia is allegedly scamming the State of California. So where is that money going?

This is the most important question. According to public records, Magnolia has diverted tens of millions of dollars away from education in California, but a fair sum of this activity goes toward protecting their malfeasance through political donations. We have first hand testimony from a whistleblower declaring that Magnolia’s Turkish teachers are strictly required to pay their “tuzuk,” the extra salary they are given, directed at specific charities/political campaigns that make it possible for the entire machine to keep on running. The funds obtained above the tuzuk are presumed to be sent to Turkey to fund Mr. Gülen’s violent political agenda.

So those are the top 5 facts about what Magnolia is up to these days … and one wonders what, indeed, will come next.

http://guleninvestigation.com/top-5-things-know-magnolia-charter-schools/

Gulenist Gokhan Serce tells a fib to LAUSD - Transfer from "Gulen Inspired" Moldova to Magnolia

"Horizon" is a staple name for the Gulen Movement Horizon = "Orizont"
Horizon Science Academy is in Ohio
There is a Gulen Horizon school in Africa
There is a Gulen Horizon school in Moldova
There is a Gulen Horizon school in Vietnam

Gokhan Serce lies at board meeting, he was selected within the Gulen Movement to work in California.  LIAR

Why Does Caprice Young make false claims? SBAC scores and denial

Upon watching the video live of Caprice Young performance at LAUSD.  Why does Magnolia lie about SBAC scores?

It's clear that Magnolia is not high performing but performs adequate in some areas and others below standard.  

Smarter Balance- Violation of Williams Act threatening to withold 

school field trip if tests not done

Magnolia Science Academy, denial and statement of facts from Gulen Cemaat

New School Santa Ana, 2 Magnolia Schools close, 10 new applications denied, 3 on chopping block,Varol Gurler RESURFACES

Nice Show Caprice, how can you afford it?
Operational Loan from Intra County for Santa Ana and staff walked out.

HERE HE IS IS -....BACK IN CALIFORNIA 

VAROL GURLER

VAROL GURLER IS THE NEW PRINCIPAL AT 

MAGNOLIA SCIENCE ACADEMY- SANTA ANA

This Gulenist gets around

Amity Brooklyn School

Lotus School of Excellence

Sonoran Science Academy

Magnolia Science Academy

3 American Addresses one in Reseda, CA, Arizona and the other in Brooklyn, NY

According this this Corporate Wiki on Varol the ORCA Construction company is out of the same address

https://www.corporationwiki.com/p/2lwkf2/varol-gurler

Here is his contact information when he applies for H1-b visa teachers via Amity School

http://www.myvisajobs.com/Visa-Sponsor/Brooklyn-Amity-School/82149.htm

Varol Gurler mentioned in that family news rag Zaman Amerika (Gulen rag) 

http://zamanamerika.com/etiket/varol-gurler/

Hizmet news about Brooklyn Amity School and a karate girl champion

http://hizmetnews.com/7406/brooklyn-amity-school-crowned-karate-champion/#.V7erEygrK00

Back in 2011 he reportedly gave $100.00 to formerLAUSD  board member Tamar Galatzen 

http://ethics2.lacity.org/disclosure/campaign/search/public_search_results.cfm?orderby=RPT_AMOUNT&orderbydesc=no&more=6&viewtype=pf&cand_per_id=5654&idd=6&rept_type=AllCon&SCHEDULE=A%2CB%2CC&requesttimeout=1000&election_id=42

NAACP moratorium on charter schools recommended

no more manipulations of black and brown people!!!!

Breaking News: Charter Resolution Ratified by @NAACP National Board

Statement Regarding the NAACP’s Resolution on a Moratorium on Charter Schools

CINCINNATI – Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Board of Directors ratified a resolution Saturday adopted by delegates at its 2016 107th National Convention calling for a moratorium on charter school expansion and for the strengthening of oversight in governance and practice.

“The NAACP has been in the forefront of the struggle for and a staunch advocate of free, high-quality, fully and equitably-funded public education for all children,” said Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the National NAACP Board of Directors. “We are dedicated to eliminating the severe racial inequities that continue to plague the education system.”

The National Board’s decision to ratify this resolution reaffirms prior resolutions regarding charter schools and the importance of public education, and is one of 47 resolutions adopted today by the Board of Directors. The National Board’s decision to ratify supports its 2014 Resolution, ‘School Privatization Threat to Public Education’, in which the NAACP opposes privatization of public schools and public subsidizing or funding of for-profit or charter schools. Additionally, in 1998 the Association adopted a resolution which unequivocally opposed the establishment and granting of charter schools which are not subject to the same accountability and standardization of qualifications/certification of teachers as public schools and divert already-limited funds from public schools.

We are calling for a moratorium on the expansion of the charter schools at least until such time as:
(1) Charter schools are subject to the same transparency and accountability standards as public schools
(2) Public funds are not diverted to charter schools at the expense of the public school system
(3) Charter schools cease expelling students that public schools have a duty to educate and
(4) Cease to perpetuate de facto segregation of the highest performing children from those whose aspirations may be high but whose talents are not yet as obvious.

Historically the NAACP has been in strong support of public education and has denounced movements toward privatization that divert public funds to support non-public school choices. “We are moving forward to require that charter schools receive the same level of oversight, civil rights protections and provide the same level of transparency, and we require the same of traditional public schools,” Chairman Brock said. “Our decision today is driven by a long held principle and policy of the NAACP that high quality, free, public education should be afforded to all children.”
While we have reservations about charter schools, we recognize that many children attend traditional public schools that are inadequately and inequitably equipped to prepare them for the innovative and competitive environment they will face as adults. Underfunded and under-supported, these traditional public schools have much work to do to transform curriculum, prepare teachers, and give students the resources they need to have thriving careers in a technologically advanced society that is changing every year. There is no time to wait. Our children immediately deserve the best education we can provide.

“Our ultimate goal is that all children receive a quality public education that prepares them to be a contributing and productive citizen,” said Adora Obi Nweze, Chair of the National NAACP Education Committee, President of the Florida State Conference of the NAACP and a former educator whose committee guides educational policy for the Association.

“The NAACP’s resolution is not inspired by ideological opposition to charter schools but by our historical support of public schools – as well as today’s data and the present experience of NAACP branches in nearly every school district in the nation,” said Cornell William Brooks, President and CEO of the NAACP. “Our NAACP members, who as citizen advocates, not professional lobbyists, are those who attend school board meetings, engage with state legislatures and support both parents and teachers.”

“The vote taken by the NAACP is a declaratory statement by this Association that the proliferation of charter schools should be halted as we address the concerns raised in our resolution,” said Chairman Brock.

 https://cloakinginequity.com/2016/10/15/breaking-news-charter-resolution-ratified-by-naacp-national-board/#prettyPhoto

Caprice Young User, Loser, Abuser- race baiting manipulations Caprice answer to NAACP moratorium

Caprice Young's salary is over $230,000
Caprice and her CCSA which share an address with Magnolia Schools have spent an excess of $8 million on campaigns to put pro charter people in office.
Magnolia and Caprice have spent millions that last 4 years on immigration, legal fees, and public relations.

More money out of the communities that Caprice professes to serve.
Helping "browns and blacks"

http://www.lawattstimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3841&catid=21&Itemid=114

October 13, 2016 

By Jennifer Bihm 

Assistant Editor 

Despite what they are deeming unnecessary opposition, officials of the Magnolia Charter Schools in Los Angeles said they will fight to keep their doors open and that they want to ensure that the battle doesn’t overshadow what they’ve achieved over the last 15 years. Since 2002 MPS has cultivated a learning environment within their 10 schools in L.A. and Orange counties, that has fostered growth and viable achievements among some of the area’s neediest students. Now, they said, because they have a significant number of staff who are Turkish and Muslim, they have become the victims of strong arm tactics by the ­current Turkish president who feels the schools have been in cahoots with one of his challengers.

 The charter school entity is reported to be among a variety of targets between Turkish President Recep Tayyip and his political nemesis Fetuhullah Gulen, a respected Muslim cleric. Tayyip has set out to prove that at least one hundred U.S. schools have given millions of dollars to Gulen and are supporting him. Reportedly, Magnolia Schools were co-founded by a group of Gulen’s supporters who are from Turkey.

 MCS officials said they feel it’s largely the reason they are now being challenged by LAUSD and government officials, with audits and questions about the renewability status of some of their schools. They’re not giving in to any of the pressures they said, because their main focus is continuing to make sure that LAUSD’s kids are getting a quality education, one that is preparing them for university life and subsequently the real world.

 Their main focus is improving students’ performance in reading, writing and math, reducing dropout rates and increasing the number of students who pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEAM).

 “Almost all of our students are UC (University of California) ready when they graduate,” said Chief Academic Officer, Kenya Jackson.

 “Magnolia schools don’t have barriers to education for some students and not others. Like being tested for ‘gifted’ for instance or. These students already face barriers. Why add more by telling them, ‘you’re not ready for robotics,’ or ‘you’re not ready for AP computers in 9th grade…’”

 Officials like Jackson and CEO Caprice Young are doing everything they can, they said, to shield their learning communities from the challenges they are facing and to ensure that these students who need it most are getting a quality education comparable to their counterparts in more affluent schools.

 “None of these [political] issues are present in our schools,” said Jackson.

 “The point is,” said Young, “that these schools are valuable for Black and Brown students and shutting them down would take away that quality education.”

Two Magnolia schools, this year, were named among the top high schools in California and the nation.

 “We’re proud to have our schools recognized as among the best in the state,” said Young.

 “It’s further validation of Magnolia’s track record of ensuring that all students regardless of their socioeconomic or cultural background are prepared. Our results are a testament not only to our hard working students but also to our committed teachers, committed to seeing every student succeed.”

Super Counselor = Gulen Cult member 

Magnolia Science Academy Caprice Young 9/20 hearing - Blacks, Mexicans ...

Magnolia Science Academy Caprice Young 9/20 hearing #2 - Blacks, Mexican...

Caprice Young and her Terrorist Gulen Schools careen through American classrooms

American charter schools have become embroiled in a proxy fight between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Fethullah Gulen

By

IANTHE JEANNE DUGAN and

DOUGLAS BELKIN

Updated Sept. 22, 2016 6:13 p.m. ET

A global proxy war between the president of Turkey and his No. 1 nemesis played out early this year in an otherwise routine public-school board meeting in Fremont, Calif.

On the agenda during the January meeting was a pitch from the chief executive of a California charter-school chain, which had proposed opening an outpost in the Silicon Valley...lso in attendance, and bearing a long list of objections, was a lawyer representing the Republic of Turkey.

The attorney, from London-based Amsterdam & Partners LLP, “has been following us around lately” trying to block the chain’s projects,Caprice Young, chief executive of Magnolia Public Schools, told the Fremont board. “He is a representative of the Turkish government who seems to believe that we are affiliated with a religious group with whom we are not affiliated.”

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Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan pinned the coup attempt that gripped the country on a self-exiled cleric living in the U.S. named Fethullah Gulen. Gulen denies any involvement. Here’s a closer look at this influential preacher. Photo: AP (Originally published July 18, 2016)

Magnolia is among hundreds of targets in a battle between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his former political ally Fethullah Gulen , a Muslim cleric with millions of global followers, who left Turkey in 1999 and lives in Pennsylvania.

Turkish officials blame Mr. Gulen for orchestrating a July 15 coup attempt. They accuse him of trying to subvert the democratically elected government via positions his sympathizers hold in the judiciary, police and academia.

Turkey has asked the U.S. to extradite Mr. Gulen on charges unrelated to the putsch. U.S. officials have said they would consider all evidence Turkey presents as part of an extradition request; privately, many senior U.S. officials said they are skeptical of Turkey’s claims against Mr. Gulen.

Mr. Gulen’s network is hard to define. His supporters run schools and foundations around the world with clear ties to him. His links to other institutions are less clear, including to U.S. schools such as Magnolia. The chain was founded by two Gulen sympathizers and counts Gulen admirers among its teachers, said its CEO, Dr. Young. She said Magnolia has no legal, financial or governance connection with him.

Robert Amsterdam, whose firm was hired by Turkey, said he has about 25 employees and consultants fanned out around the globe to prove a theory, an effort that predated the coup attempt and has gathered momentum since. Roughly 150 schools in the U.S., and hundreds of other academic institutions and businesses around the world, he claims, channel millions of dollars annually to the Gulen movement.

“This is truly a global political and criminal movement,” said Mr. Amsterdam. “In the U.S., they’re teaching 60,000 students. I don’t know how they have time to teach when they spend so much time gaming the system.”

A Turkish embassy official in Washington referred inquiries to Mr. Amsterdam.

On a recent day, Mr. Gulen sat on a gold-colored couch in a book-lined office in a former summer camp in Saylorsburg, Pa., a Pocono Mountains town. He agreed to meet and be photographed but declined to speak, citing health concerns.

Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen at his Pennsylvania compound. PHOTO: IANTHE DUGAN/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

His representatives referred inquiries to Yuksel Alp Aslandogan, executive director of the Alliance for Shared Values, a nonprofit that promotes Mr. Gulen’s ideas and his “Hizmet” movement. Mr. Gulen denies involvement in the failed coup, denies trying to subvert the government and is opposed to violence, said Mr. Aslandogan. The cleric, he said, is 77 or 78 years old.

Mr. Aslandogan defended the movement, saying: “There are hundreds of businesses and NGOs within the Hizmet movement that have been legally operating around the world…and have been praised by local authorities and heads of state for their contributions to the country in which they operate.”

Some U.S. schools on Mr. Amsterdam’s hit list were founded by Gulen sympathizers but Mr. Gulen doesn’t run them, said Mr. Aslandogan, who himself helped start a school in Chicago.

‘Money laundering’

Mr. Amsterdam is aiming to tie the schools on his list to Mr. Gulen and expose what he said is a “money laundering” scheme. Some schools, he said, illegally use public funding to pay for immigration lawyers to win visas for teachers and administrators from Turkey. The schools then expect these Turkish employees to donate to the Gulenist movement, he said, and pressure them to donate to American politicians who advocate for Mr. Gulen.

The schools, he said, illustrate why Mr. Gulen should be extradited. They “give him political influence in a very big way,” he said.

Caprice Young, CEO of Magnolia Public Schools, one target of Mr. Amsterdam’s team, says the California charter-school chain was founded by sympathizers of Mr. Gulen but has no affiliation with him. PHOTO: MICHAL CZERWONKA FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Mr. Aslandogan said the schools Mr. Amsterdam accuses of impropriety “are American institutions serving American children and their parents. Any illegal or unethical action by individuals who are allegedly sympathizers of the Hizmet movement would be against the movement’s core values.”

Both camps are focused on Washington, D.C., where they are enlisting lawmakers and lobbyists to argue for or against Mr. Gulen and his causes. The Alliance, which backs Mr. Gulen, hired the Podesta Group Inc., co-founded by the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s White House campaign, John Podesta, and now run by his brother,Tony Podesta.

Mr. Gulen rose to prominence in Turkey in the 1980s with his moderate Islamic teachings combining religion, democracy and science. When Mr. Erdogan rose to power in 2002, his party and Mr. Gulen shared some goals, working closely to break the military’s political monopoly and to overhaul laws they saw as discriminating against some conservative Muslims.

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When Recep Tayyip Erdogan rose to power in 2003, he promoted like-minded Islamists who were followers of a key ally, Turkish Imam Fethullah Gulen. Now Erdogan says the U.S.-based cleric is a sworn enemy who he says was behind a failed military coup. Photo: Getty

Mr. Erdogan and Mr. Gulen eventually broke their alliance. The cleric accused the president of becoming dangerously authoritarian. Mr. Erdogan accused his opponent of attempting a soft coup when prosecutors and judges announced a corruption investigation against Erdogan allies. Mr. Erdogan and his allies denied the corruption allegations, and Mr. Erdogan’s government helped quash the investigation.

In December, Mr. Amsterdam helped sue Mr. Gulen in Pennsylvania federal court on behalf of a rival religious group in Turkey, claiming Mr. Gulen directed followers to carry out human-rights abuses. In June, a U.S. district judge dismissed the case, saying it was in the wrong jurisdiction. Mr. Aslandogan called the suit part of a “smear campaign.”

After the failed July putsch, Turkish authorities purged thousands of military officers, judges, prosecutors, police officers and academics over suspected Gulen ties. Mr. Erdogan is pressuring governments in Europe, Africa and Asia to shut schools founded by Gulen supporters.

Mr. Amsterdam said his team in the U.S. has been rounding up documents, filing complaints with state school administrators, interviewing students and parents and mining data on administrators and affiliates.

“We’re moving methodically from state to state. We have hit Texas, California, Ohio and Illinois. We are going to go to the Eastern Seaboard: New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and down to Florida,” he said, sitting in a New York hotel cafe on a recent day. “We’re going to do our own whistle-stop tour.”

‘We’re moving methodically from state to state,’ says Mr. Amsterdam, whose team is challenging schools he says are connected to Mr. Gulen. ‘We’re going to do our own whistle-stop tour.’ PHOTO: STEPHEN VOSS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

In Texas, Mr. Amsterdam filed a complaint this summer about the Harmony Public School network to the Texas Education Agency. He alleged that the parent company of the schools hired Gulen supporters from Turkey, paid them more than other teachers and required them to donate to politicians.

The TEA said it is reviewing the complaint to determine if it should launch a formal investigation into some of the allegations, including whether the schools gave preferences to some vendors and misused state and federal funds. Harmony denied Mr. Amsterdam’s allegations and said it is cooperating with the review.

Harmony’s CEO, Dr. Soner Tarim, called the complaints “unfounded,” “ridiculous” and “frivolous.” As in many school chains on Mr. Amsterdam’s list, one of Harmony’s founders was of Turkish descent. Harmony, with 48 schools, said 197 of its 3,545 teachers are on H-1B visas. All of them are from Turkey. It has offered Turkish as a foreign language.

Mr. Amsterdam said he is preparing a complaint against Concept Schools in the Midwest, which is on his list of charter schools with ties to Mr. Gulen. A Concept spokesman said the school chain wasn’t aware of Mr. Amsterdam’s investigation and denied Gulen ties.

At Beehive Science and Technology Academy in Utah, Assistant Principal Germaine Barnes noticed the school on a list of supposedly Gulen-linked schools. The school has no ties to Mr. Gulen, she said. “We’re being unfairly portrayed and we have no control over it.”

In Massachusetts, at least three schools are on Mr. Amsterdam’s list. Among them is Pioneer Charter School of Science, which opened in 2007 near Boston. Pioneer declined to comment. Dominic Slowey, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, wrote in an email that the three schools get erroneously linked with Mr. Gulen because they have some Turkish administrators and offer Turkish as a language option. “This keeps showing up on various websites and we keep playing Whack-a-Mole with it.”

Magnolia, the charter-school chain that proposed a school in Fremont, was founded by Gulen sympathizers who were Turkish graduate students in California, said Dr. Young, the CEO. The Los Angeles-based chain of 10 schools offers Turkish language, which Dr. Young said is in demand for State Department jobs.

Dr. Young said that some of Magnolia’s teachers are Turkish-Americans who have been influenced by Mr. Gulen, that the chain’s trustees include at least two Turkish-Americans and that the school has no affiliation to the Gulen movement. In a previous job as head of the California Charter Schools Association in 2007, she said, she joined a trip with educators and community leaders to Turkey funded by the Pacifica Institute, which supports Mr. Gulen’s ideas. She isn’t a Gulen follower, she said. LIAR    http://www.pacificainstitutegulen.blogspot.com 

At the Fremont school-board meeting, Dr. Young came prepared. A month earlier, representatives of Magnolia had been blindsided by an Amsterdam attorney, John Martin, at a school-board meeting in Anaheim, Calif. In that meeting, Mr. Martin alleged Magnolia had improperly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on H-1B visas to bring in Turkish teachers and said he suspected that those teachers were being forced to send money to Gulen organizations. Dr. Young denied the allegations.

In Fremont, Dr. Young, who became CEO in 2015, wanted to show the attacks were part of a larger fight. Before Dr. Young testified to her schools’ success, an employee handed out contracts showing that Turkey was paying Mr. Amsterdam’s firm $50,000 monthly. “We don’t understand it really any better than you do,” she told the group, “but I am here and happy to respond to any of the accusations.”

Mr. Martin took the podium, saying the Magnolia chain lacked transparency, overpaid external vendors for questionable services, “practices extremely poor fiscal discipline” and was tied to Mr. Gulen.

Afterward, Dr. Young and her colleagues from Magnolia “surrounded me and asked me ‘Why are you picking on the kids?’ ” Mr. Martin said. Dr. Young said only she approached him, adding: “He is telling baldfaced lies intended to hurt the children we serve.”

The Fremont board later in January denied Magnolia’s petition to start a school. In its written decision, without mentioning Mr. Martin’s assertions or Mr. Gulen as a factor, the board said Magnolia was “unlikely to successfully implement the program presented in the petition.”

Dr. Young said Magnolia asked to withdraw its petition before the rejection because the chain determined it couldn’t find an appropriate facility. Board spokesman Brian Killgore said it acted despite the withdrawal request.

In a February complaint to the California Department of Education, Mr. Amsterdam’s firm wrote that “California should not ignore the documented evidence that Magnolia has a long history of ambiguous financial practices, numerous business dealings posing conflicts of interest, all of the markers commonly associated with Gülen Organization charter networks under investigation.”

Dr. Young said the assertions are false. Magnolia lawyers have written to Mr. Amsterdam’s firm demanding it “cease-and-desist” making “false” statements.

In June, Magnolia published a release saying more than 30 alumni, parents and children had submitted a letter to the Turkish Consul General in Los Angeles “demanding the Turkish government stop spending substantial resources on high-powered lobbyists and lawyers to spread false information about their schools in an attempt to shut them down.”

A parent, Lourdes Gonzalez, said she agreed to be quoted in the release because she was furious Turkey would meddle in an American school. “We will not allow our children to be used as pawns,” she said in the release, “in a political game taking place 7,000 miles away.”

—Margaret Coker and Devlin Barrett contributed to this article.

Write to Ianthe Jeanne Dugan at ianthe.dugan@wsj.com and Doug Belkin at doug.belkin@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications: 
An earlier version of this article misspelled Fremont school-board spokesman Brian Killgore’s name. (Sept. 22, 2016)

http://www.wsj.com/articles/turkeys-battle-with-muslim-cleric-careens-through-u-s-classrooms-1474553432