Gulen Charter School Magnolia Science Academy fails to make the top 10 in California

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/usc-report-names-top-10-california-charter-schools-123934909.html

LOS ANGELES, June 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A USC report issued to strengthen accountability among California charter schools includes for the first time a list of the state's top 10 charter campuses.

The fifth annual "USC School Performance Dashboard" (formerly CSI-USC) was released Wednesday by the Center on Educational Governance at the USC Rossier School of Education.

"It's a way to take the data collected for accountability purposes and transform it into information that will help parents, teachers and investors," said lead author Priscilla Wohlstetter, director of the Center on Educational Governance.

"We were really struck by the diversity of the schools in the top 10," Wohlstetter said. "There's not one model of schooling that is dominant: they are large and small, urban and suburban, high schools and elementary schools."

While most of the top 10 schools are stand-alone campuses, three are affiliated with a charter management organization – Aspire Public Schools.

The top charter schools were chosen based on academic ratings - including an index based on various state test scores - and school productivity indicators that rate a school's academic success based on its per-student spending.

For a full copy of the report and an accompanying interactive database, go to school-performance.usc.edu.

The top 10 California charter school performers are (listed in order):

1.    Heritage K-8 Charter School, Escondido (San Diego County)

2.    Rocklin Academy, Rocklin (Placer County)

3.    Temecula Valley Charter School, Winchester (Riverside County)

4.    Aspire Vincent Shalvey Academy, Stockton (San Joaquin County)

5.    Aspire River Oaks Charter School, Stockton (San Joaquin County)

6.    Willow Creek Academy, Sausalito (Marin County)

7.    Orange County High School of the Arts, Santa Ana (Orange County)

8.    St. HOPE Public School 7, Sacramento (Sacramento County)

9.    Aspire East Palo Alto Charter School, East Palo Alto (San Mateo County)

10.  Wilder's Preparatory Academy Charter, Inglewood (Los Angeles County)

Across the United States, the number of charter schools has continued to grow. In fall 2010, California – home to 807 charters, more than any other state – opened 90 new charter schools: an 8 percent growth.

At the same time, organizations that authorize charter school campuses have raised their standards, closing 160 charter schools nationally during the 2009-10 school year due to problems with finance, management or poor student performance.

"This kind of report can provide some early warning signs for schools that may not be as stable or healthy financially or academically as they need to be," Wohlstetter said.

The report also includes snapshots comparing charter and non-charter public campuses during the 2009-10 school year. Among the most notable findings are:

- Charter schools have nearly twice as many black students (13.1 percent) than non-charter public schools (6.8 percent). Still, the majority of charter school staff members are white (65.7 percent), with only 5.4 percent of staffers who identify as black.

- Charter schools' average enrollment (398 students) is smaller than that of non-charter public schools (610 students). Enrollment on charter campuses has increased from last year's average of 382 students.

- Non-charter public schools have a higher student to computer ratio – 11.4 students per computer – than do charter schools (9.3 students per computer). Last year, charter schools had about seven students per computer.

Major funding for the "USC School Performance Dashboard 2011" was provided by the Los Angeles-based Ahmanson Foundation, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation and the Weingart Foundation.

The Center on Educational Governance researches the linkages between policy, governance and the improvement of urban schools and systems. Its interdisciplinary approach offers policy solutions to the educational challenges posed by an increasingly global society.

Current Center on Educational Governance research includes education reform, school and district governance and public-private partnerships, improving the quality of school systems, increasing accountability, and spreading innovation across states, districts, and between traditional public and charter schools.

SOURCE USC Rossier School of Education

Back to top

RELATED LINKS
http://www.rossier.usc.edu

Gulen Charter Schools- "Monkey See Monkey Do"

Not only do the Gulen Charter Schools in the USA steal or plagerize information out of student handbooks, mission statements, curriculum, etc.,  They are now starting to imitate each other.
It seems the Gulen Movement Harmony Science Academies in order to sound more a part of the American mainstream traditional schools are now calling themselves "Harmony Public Schools"
Then their Gulen Charter sister school in California Magnolia Science Academy is now dubbing themselves "Magnolia Public Schools"
Here are more "Monkey See  Monkey Do"  The Gulen Movement doesn't have a creative brain in their head.

Alas the Harmony Science Academy, Magnolia Science Academy, Horizon Science Academy, Sonoran Science Academy..........ALL sing the same tune of denial.  Can you be any more obvious?

http://www.magnoliapublicschools.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=116&Itemid=110

http://www.harmonytx.org/

1. The discovery that the Gulen movement-operated Horizon Science Academy schools (operated by the 25-school, Ohio-based Concept Schools) had copied KIPP’s famous Five Pillars was first made by C.A.S.I.L.I.P.S. However, this is not the only case where the showcase elements of KIPP's educational philosophy have been used without attribution. St. HOPE Public Schools, the three-school CMO founded by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson (Michelle Rhee's fiancé) also has Five Pillars which are near-identical to KIPP’s. Click on the images at the very bottom to see for yourself. 
Q: In this world where business model-like competition is the whole point, don't these people copyright their intellectual material?

2. The Horizon Science Academy – Cleveland High School has been highly acclaimed, even winning a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award in 2009. In addition to containing the KIPP-originated Five Essentials which were noted above, the school’s Annual Report 2008-2009 contains more phrasing which has been copied from other schools, and/or from which other charter schools have copied. For instance,

==>  A phrase in Our Guiding Principals (“belief that each child has an inherent curiosity and love of learning; and that each child has a unique intelligence, level of capability, and learning style”) is used by

• Elko Charter School (non-Gulenist school in NV) 
• Coral Science Academy (Gulen charter school in NV)
• Chesapeake Math and IT Academy (proposed Gulen charter school for MD)
• Wisconsin Career Academy (Gulen charter school) 

==>  A phrase in Our Mission (“construct a program, which engages and motivates students to  invest  their  talents, energy, and enthusiasm  in completing  their  schoolwork  in an exemplary manner”) is also used for at least seven other Gulen charter schools

• Riverside Science Academy, AKA Broward Math and Science Schools (a new charter school opening Fall 2011; approved by Broward County Public Schools

More complete info here:

http://perimeterprimate.blogspot.com/2011/06/plagiarism-in-charter-school-world.html

Cut, paste and fill in the blank

http://gulencharterschools.weebly.com/generic-science-academy---cut-paste-fill-in-the-blank.html

Magnolia Science Academy 2011 MSA/PTS INEPO Competition

MORE PROPAGANDA FOR GULEN MOVEMENT MAGNOLIA SCIENCE ACADEMY.

Magnolia Science Academy and the rest of the Gulen Charter Schools - advertising on CRAIG'S LIST for teachers

How serious are the Gulen Charter Schools in finding good American teachers when they advertise in online rags like Craig's List for teachers?  We have discussed this many times, the Craig's List is only the Gulenist way to prove they attempted to find American teachers so they could then bring in their brethren via h1-b Visas.  Maybe this is why they had a few perverts working at their schools like the teacher arrested at Harmony Science Academy in Waco, TX for diddling an underage student.  Shame Shame!!!!  Check out the backgrounds of your teachers.

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/esd/edu/2431452743.html

Middle School Band or Orchestra Instructor/Director (Sn Diego, San Carlos Area)

---

Date: 2011-06-09, 7:08PM PDT
Reply to: hr_msasd@magnoliafoundation.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

---

Magnolia Science Academy - San Diego (MSA SD) will hire a PT band or orchestra instructor/director for the 2011-12 academic year.
MSA SD is a 6-8 gr. public charter school that offers high standards in education.
We will start band or orchestra program for the first time at our school. So the instructor will need to have leadership skills
to help our school establish the program.
Please e-mail your resume to hr_msasd@magnoliafoundation.org
For information regarding Magnolia Science Academy please visit
www.magnoliapublicschools.org
sandiego.magnoliascience.org

·         Location: Sn Diego, San Carlos Area

·         Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.

·         Please, no phone calls about this job!

·         Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

PostingID: 2431452743

Magnolia Science Academy marketing machine at it again, with their "college acceptance" record.

Tactics of Islam, conquering America from within
Fethullah Gulen Missionaries

well, well, another fluff piece by the Gulen Movement.  First of all, when a student APPLIES to a college, jr. college and community college they are usually 100% accepted.  don't get fooled by the marketing of the Gulen Movement.

Magnolia Science Academy in Reseda Ranks 13th in CA in Preparing Students for College

Charter school also ranked 114th nationally by the Washington Post's High School Challenge Index

Share

By Magnolia Public Schools

Published: Monday, Jun. 6, 2011 - 6:38 am

LOS ANGELES, June 6, 2011 -- /PRNewswire/ -- The Magnolia Science Academy in Reseda was ranked 13th among California schools in the Washington Post's High School Challenge Index, which measures how well schools prepare students for college.

"Of our high school seniors, 70% are first generation college students," said David Yilmaz, Chief Academic Officer of Magnolia Public Schools. "Our goal is to provide a wide selection of AP Courses for all students at each of our schools, in order to prepare them to succeed in college."

Magnolia Science Academy – Reseda, is a college-preparatory public charter school with a curricular focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The school is situated in the San Fernando Valley and serves 480 students in grades 6-12 from predominately underserved socioeconomic backgrounds.  In 2009, it was awarded the Silver Medal by US News & World Report in its ranking of 'America's Best High Schools.'

The Washington Post's Challenge Index measures whether a school is preparing students for college by dividing the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or other college-level tests a school gave in 2010 by the number of graduating seniors. While not a measure of the overall quality of the school, the rating can reveal the level of a high school's commitment to preparing average students for college. Find out more and see the full rankings (http://apps.washingtonpost.com/highschoolchallenge/schools/2011/list/california-schools/)

About Magnolia Public Schools

The Magnolia Educational and Research Foundation is a non-profit educational organization that has been developing high-quality charter schools in California since 2002. Currently, there are 12 Magnolia Science Academies and Pacific Technology Schools throughout the State of California, eight of them situated within the County of Los Angeles.  Parents interested in enrollment opportunities at Magnolia Public Schools can obtain information at www.magnoliapublicschools.org or by calling (714) 892-5066.

SOURCE Magnolia Public Schools

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/06/3680229/magnolia-science-academy-in-reseda.html#ixzz1OYUjvm5K



Magnolia Science Academy-The Gülen Movement: A New Islamic World Order? - CBN.com

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2011/May/The-Gulen-Movement-The-New-Islamic-World-Order/

SAYLORSBURG, Pa. -- Fetullah Gülen has been called the world's top public intellectual and the face of moderate Islam. He has held court with Pope John Paul II and received praise from former President Bill Clinton.

"You're contributing to the promotion of the ideals of tolerance and interfaith dialogue inspired by Fetullah Gülen and his transnational social movement," Clinton told audience members during a video address at the World Rumi Forum in 2010.

Yet others have branded Gülen a wolf in sheep's clothing and a modern day Ayatollah Khomeini. CBN News recently took a closer look at the the life of the reclusive imam who directs a global Islamic movement from the Pennsylvania mountains.

Master Teacher or Deceiver?

Gülen's story takes him from a small town in Turkey to founder of a multi-billion dollar Islamic movement bearing his name.

Despite a grade school-level education, the Turkish imam leads a worldwide following of some 5 million devotees. They refer to him as "Hoca Efendi," or master teacher.

"What is the endgame of this movement, which constitutes a multi-billion dollar budget, which constitutes thousands of high schools all around the world, to universities, NGOs, markets, banks?" Turkish journalist Tulin Daloglu asked, voicing a question many have raised.

Gülen claims to represent a moderate brand of Islam compatible with the modern world. He emphasizes interfaith dialogue and the pursuit of science.

Yet one expert told CBN News there's much more to the story.

"It's not just a religious movement; it's the Fetullah Gülen movement. They call themselves that. So it is, you can say, a cult. It is a highly personalized movement," Ariel Cohen, a Middle East analyst with the Heritage Foundation, said. Cohen has been tracking the Gülen movement closely.

"This is clearly the world according to the Koran, the world according to Islam, the world according to Fetullah Gülen," he told CBN News. "But what he's talking about is not the caliphate, is not the sharia state--he calls it the New World Islamic Order."

Far from Mainstream?

Cohen said some in the U.S. government and academia support reaching out to Gülen's followers as a way to counter al Qaeda and other jihadist groups.

"The idea being, just like people who say that we should have a good relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood, that these are 'mainstream Islamists,'" he explained.

But according to leading French-Turkish scholar Bayram Balci, Gülen's ideas are anything but "mainstream" for a Western society.

Balci writes that the movement "serve(s) to accomplish three intellectual goals: the Islamization of the Turkish nationalist ideology; the Turkification of Islam; and the Islamization of modernity."

"And therefore, (Gülen) wishes to revive the link between the state, religion, and society," he writes.

Critics claim Gülen wants Islam to play a more active role in societies, breaking down barries between mosque and state while also promoting Turkish nationalism and identity.

Country Club for Islam

The Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center, the worldwide headquarters of the Gülen movement, is located not in Ankara or Istanbul, but on 25 scenic acres of the Pocono Mountains in rural Pennsylvania.

CBN News toured the compound with a staffer but were not permitted to film or to meet Gülen. The 70-year-old leader is in poor health and rarely gives interviews.

Gülen came to America in 1998, reportedly to seek medical treatment. Since then, he's directed his global empire from Pennsylvania. A federal judge granted him a green card in 2008.

Shortly after he left for America, a series of secretly recorded sermons featuring Gülen aired on Turkish television. In one of them, he told his followers:

"You must move in the arteries of the system without anyone noticing your existence until you reach all the power centers...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 … Now, I have expressed my feelings and thoughts to you all in confidence. Know that when you leave here -- as you discard your empty juice boxes, you must discard the thoughts and the feelings that I expressed here."

After the tapes aired, Turkish authorities indicted Gülen on charges that he was plotting to overthrow the secular government of Turkey. The charges were eventually dropped.

Targeting America's Youth

Meanwhile, the Gülen movement continues to expand its influence through the construction of schools worldwide, including in America.

Currently, there are about 125 Gülen schools spread out over 25 states. One school in Philadelphia receives some $3 million annually in taxpayer money.

"They work through the education system. Their main tool is educating kids," Cohen told CBN News.

Gülen charter schools have nondescript names, like "Truebright Science Academy," and focus heavily on math and science.

Many of the teachers hail from Turkey. Federal authorities are reportedly investigating whether some employees kick back a portion of their salaries to the Gülen movement.

Classified documents released by WikiLeaks show that U.S. officials have concerns about the Gülen schools.

"We have multiple reliable reports that the Gülenists use their school network (including dozens of schools in the U.S.) to cherry pick students they think are susceptible to being molded as proselytizers," U.S. Embassy officials in Ankara said in a 2005 report.

"And we have steadily heard reports about how the schools indoctrinate boarding students," they said.

Meanwhile, in its birthplace of Turkey, the movement continues to grow. Gülen followers are said to make up at least 70 percent of Turkey's federal police force, ostensibly devoted to their master teacher half a world away in the Pocono Mountains.

*Originally broadcast on Jun 1, 2011.

Gulen Movement manipulates Colleges, to open an Islamic College in Chicago, IL

Gulen to manipulate American Universities deciding who, how and what teaches American college students.  The Gulen Movement has purchased many chairs at difference universities and holds many Gulen Movement talks at colleges including USC , Santa Clara University in San Jose, CA  Gulen aims to reach all students from pre-school to college.



Chicago News Cooperative

Return of Islamic College Raises New Questions
By DAVID LEPESKA
Published: May 28, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Gulen movement, called Hizmet (a Turkish word meaning “service”), promotes public service and education and oversees research institutes, universities, media outlets and one of Turkey’s largest banks. The movement seeks to spread Gulen’s influence internationally through an informal network of 1,000 schools in 130 countries.
  
Hizmet operates more than 120 publicly financed charter schools in 25 states, in addition to a handful of private schools, like the Science Academy of Chicago, run by Niagara Educational Services, a Mount Prospect firm associated with the Gulen movement. Like many of the movement’s American schools, the Science Academy focuses on math and science.

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

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

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

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

Federal officials declined to comment.

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

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

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

School officials say the college will present what Mr. Gulen has long stood for: a more moderate form of Islam than the extremist version that has often dominated public debate in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001.

The school plans to offer more than a dozen courses in the fall and hopes to attract up to 400 local and international students in the next few years.

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

Now, after spending $500,000 from the Islamic Conference to renovate its library, dorms, mosque, and 1,000-seat auditorium, the college is reopening under new management. It is led by Mr. Yurtsever, a mathematician with a Ph.D. from Ege University in Turkey who taught at Georgetown University.
  
College officials expect to receive authority to offer for-credit courses from the Illinois Board of Higher Education on June 7. The college has applied for full accreditation, which would allow it to confer four-year degrees.

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

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

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

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

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

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

==========================
John Benjamin’s comment posted on 5.26.11 --  FBI Investigation of Gulen Schools (a.k.a., Harmony Science Academies in Texas:

• In order to understand Fetullah Gulen (FG) movement (FGM), one needs to understand the history of modern Turkey. Ottoman Empire was the flag ship of Islam for centuries. After the fall of empire at the end of WW1, Modern Turkey emerged from the ruins of Ottomans as a muslim but a secular country owing this revolution to M.K.Ataturk, a military general and a statesman. The transition from an Islamic ruler/leader figure to a secular image had some reactions within Turkey and abroad. Radical Islamists have been trying to make Turkey the leader of Islam again after the death of Ataturk in 1938. Turkish Military has been the protector of Secularism for years.

Fetullah Gulen, A Turkish Imam, figured out ]that he needed] to destroy the secularism and bring down the modern Turkey targeting the leaders of the future… Kids! FGM has been providing secret study houses for mostly boarding school kids, picked the talented ones to train them in the selected universities. FGM has taken its time to proceed and reach today’s scale of operations. Secularism in Turkey is about to be demolished by the existing Islamist government whose members are mainly the secret members of the Gulen movement. We will all see a transition of Turkey, a Nato Ally, from being a secular country to another Islamic republic in the middle east very soon.

Why the US government is reaching out and providing opportunities to Gulen movement is because the US government is failing to deal with radical islam. The US goverment is under the impression that the FGM is the answer for moderate Islam since FG pretents to promote dialog among the faiths.

This is a fatal mistake. Because in Islam, there is no Dialog, there is no moderation. Kur’an states and Muslims believe that every human being needs to convert to Islam sooner or later, otherwise, they all deserve to die. This is not a joke, nor a foolish statement. This is what all kids who receives Kur’an training before they reach the age of 12 believe.

As Gulen Schools slowly but surely moves forward in their operations in the US, the main idea is to bring up more gradeuates of FGM who may in the future become the leaders of te US. Fetullah Gulen’s next school, The Harmony School of Political Science in Austin TX, being built is just a clue to prove my point.

This movement needs to be stoped. The US parents need to be warned, educated and made aware of the danger awaiting their children.