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.