New York Times Gets Wind of Turkish Take-over of American Taxpayer Money For Schools In Texas

ACTION STEP:  All patriotic American taxpayers should be alarmed over the spread of the Islamist Gulen charter schools. Texans in particular need to contact all their Legislators and alert them to the safeguards (listed below) that must be placed in the charter school bills now making their way through the legislative process.

The free trips to Turkey and the campaign contributions given to our Texas Legislators by the Gulenists are highly troubling and leave taxpayers wondering how objective can our Legislators actually be about their votes on these charter school bills that financially enable the spread of Gulen charter schools.  Is this yet another example of “pay for votes”?  -- Donna Garner

6.7.11 -- BREAKING NEWS:

MAJOR INVESTIGATION OF GULEN CHARTER SCHOOLS BY NEW YORK TIMES

When the New York Times decides to do investigative journalism, they have the resources and staff to find things out that few others can discover.  I am sure you will want to go to this NYT link (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/education/07charter.html?_r=1&emc=eta1&pagewanted=all ) to view the photos and other graphics which will give you more of an understanding about the Gulen charter schools. 

The NYT, however, also has shortcomings because of its left-leaning political bias that has kept their reporters from including very important aspects of the dangers of Fethullah Gulen and his Gulen charter schools.

Below the NYT article, I have posted links to other articles that explain the many dangers of Fethullah Gulen and his indoctrination of our nation’s youth into Islam, Sharia law, and anti-Americanism.  

Fethullah Gulen is an Islamist imam who has been behind the successful efforts in Turkey to turn that country into an armed camp that is now anti-American.  Its security police force has been almost totally infiltrated by Gulenists, and Turkey is on the verge of joining up with the rest of the Muslim world against the United States and Israel.  

As we speak, our Texas Legislature is in Special Session and is moving toward providing even more funding for Gulen charter schools.  A faithful few, such as Peyton Wolcott, are trying to convince Legislators to look more deeply into the financial “payoffs” that Gulen has given to elected officials. 

Please go to this link to see who has taken free trips to Turkey and/or reaped huge campaign contributions from Gulen-controlled entities.  Is it any wonder that these Texas Legislators are promoting the establishment of more Gulen schools in our state?

http://www.peytonwolcott.com/TX_TCSA_Delisi_Cash_2011Lege.html

Peyton Wolcott is presently leading an effort to force the Texas Legislature to include in its pro-charter-school bills three safeguards to protect the Permanent School Fund which by law in Texas is supposed to be used for students’ textbooks.  The Legislature is trying to take some of the PSF funds and make those dollars available for charter school bonds, including more Gulen charter schools. 

Wolcott has made the case that all charter schools should (1) have to show proof of U. S. citizenship for board members (e.g., ISD trustees) and top administrators; (2) post online the names, titles, and bios of board and top administrators, and (3) post their checkbook registers online so that taxpayers will know how their tax dollars are being spent.

ACTION STEP:  If you are a fellow Texan, you must contact your legislators and alert them to the alarming content of this NYT article, to the links posted under the article, and to the safeguards that Wolcott and others are trying to get the Legislators to include in the charter school bills.

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

======================

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/education/07charter.html?_r=1&emc=eta1&pagewanted=all

 

New York Times

 

Charter Schools Tied to Turkey Grow in Texas

By STEPHANIE SAUL

Published: June 6, 2011

 

TDM Contracting was only a month old when it won its first job, an $8.2 million contract to build the Harmony School of Innovation, a publicly financed charter school that opened last fall in San Antonio.

It was one of six big charter school contracts TDM and another upstart company have shared since January 2009, a total of $50 million in construction business. Other companies scrambling for work in a poor economy wondered: How had they qualified for such big jobs so fast?

The secret lay in the meteoric rise and financial clout of the Cosmos Foundation, a charter school operator founded a decade ago by a group of professors and businessmen from Turkey. Operating under the name Harmony Schools, Cosmos has moved quickly to become the largest charter school operator in Texas, with 33 schools receiving more than $100 million a year in taxpayer funds.

While educating schoolchildren across Texas, the group has also nurtured a close-knit network of businesses and organizations run by Turkish immigrants. The businesses include not just big contractors like TDM but also a growing assemblage of smaller vendors selling school lunches, uniforms, after-school programs, Web design, teacher training and even special education assessments.

Some of the schools’ operators and founders, and many of their suppliers, are followers of Fethullah Gulen, a charismatic Turkish preacher [Gulen is actually an Islam imam who believes in Sharia law and wants to establish a universal caliphate. -- Donna Garner] of a moderate brand of Islam whose devotees have built a worldwide religious, social and nationalistic movement in his name. Gulen followers have been involved in starting similar schools around the country — there are about 120 in all, mostly in urban centers in 25 states, one of the largest collections of charter schools in America.

The growth of these “Turkish schools,” as they are often called, has come with a measure of backlash, not all of it untainted by xenophobia. Nationwide, the primary focus of complaints has been on hundreds of teachers and administrators imported from Turkey: in Ohio and Illinois, the federal Department of Labor is investigating union accusations that the schools have abused a special visa program in bringing in their expatriate employees.

But an examination by The New York Times of the Harmony Schools in Texas casts light on a different area: the way they spend public money. And it raises questions about whether, ultimately, the schools are using taxpayer dollars to benefit the Gulen movement — by giving business to Gulen followers, or through financial arrangements with local foundations that promote Gulen teachings and Turkish culture.

Harmony Schools officials say they scrupulously avoid teaching about religion, and they deny any official connection to the Gulen movement. The say their goal in starting charter schools — publicly financed schools that operate independently from public school districts — has been to foster educational achievement, especially in science and math, where American students so often falter.

“It’s basically a mission of our organization,” said Soner Tarim, the superintendent of the 33 Texas schools.

The schools, Dr. Tarim said, follow all competitive bidding rules, and do not play favorites in awarding contracts. In many cases, Turkish-owned companies have in fact been the low bidders.

Even so, records show that virtually all recent construction and renovation work has been done by Turkish-owned contractors. Several established local companies said they had lost out even after bidding several hundred thousand dollars lower.

“It kind of boils my blood a little bit, all the money that was spent, when I know it could have been done for less,” said Deborah Jones, an owner of daj Construction, one of four lower bidders who failed to win a recent contract for a school renovation in the Austin area.

Harmony’s history underscores the vast latitude that many charter school systems have been granted to spend public funds. While the degree of oversight varies widely from state to state, the rush to approve charter schools has meant that some barely monitor charter school operations.

In Washington, concern is growing. A number of charter schools across the country have been accused of a range of improprieties in recent years, from self-dealing on contracts to grade-changing schemes and inflating attendance records to increase financing.

Last year, the inspector general’s office in the federal Education Department cited these complaints in a memo alerting the agency of “our concern about vulnerabilities in the oversight of charter schools.”

The Texas Education Agency has a total of nine people overseeing more than 500 charter school campuses. “They don’t have the capacity at the state level to do the job,” said Greg Richmond, president of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. Even so, the state’s education commissioner, Robert Scott, last year took the unusual step of granting Harmony permission to open new schools outside the normal approval process.

Officials at the education agency said staffing was sufficient to oversee charter schools. They would not discuss Harmony’s contracts, but a check of the agency’s past audits — largely desk reviews of financial statements submitted by the schools — did not find any alarms raised about Harmony contracting.

In April, however, the agency notified Harmony of an unreleased preliminary audit questioning more than $540,000 in inadequately documented expenses, the vast majority involving federal grant money. Neither the agency nor Harmony would disclose details of the findings.

Starting Out

The charter school movement did not begin in Texas, but the state embraced it with ideological fervor in the late 1990s as a pet project of the governor at the time, George W. Bush. The schools’ independence from local school boards and union contracts, the theory went, would free them to become seedbeds of educational achievement in a landscape of underperforming failure.

While Texas charter schools must meet core curriculum standards, they may emphasize some subjects over others, as Harmony does with math, science and technology. They do not have to hew to standard public school calendars or hours. They may — and some do — pay teachers less than the standard state-mandated salaries. (In exchange for this flexibility, the schools get less state money than regular schools, with various calculations showing an annual difference of between $1,000 and $2,000 per pupil.)

David Bradley, a member of the Texas Board of Education, served on the panel that reviewed the early charter proposals. “The only requirement was that you expressed an interest,” he said, adding, “The first time Harmony came forth, they had a great application, and they were great people.”

One of those people was Yetkin Yildirim, who had arrived from Turkey in 1996 to attend the University of Texas in Austin. He also worked as a volunteer tutor in local high schools. The idea for the Harmony schools was born, he said, when he and friends — including Dr. Tarim — saw how much less rigorous the American high schools were in teaching science and math.

“Then we realized that something can be done,” said Dr. Yildirim, now a University of Texas professor specializing in asphalt technology. They spent a year writing their proposal, and in 2000 the group opened its first school, in Houston.

The schools represented the expansion of a mission that had already created hundreds of schools — and a number of universities — in Turkey and around the world. According to social scientists who have studied them, these schools have been the primary vehicle for the aspirations of the Gulen movement, a loose network of several million followers of Mr. Gulen, who preaches the need to embrace modernity in a peace-loving, ecumenical version of Islam. At the center of his philosophy is the concept of “hizmet” — public service.

The movement is also influential in Turkish politics and controls substantial commercial holdings, including a bank, Asya; one of Turkey’s largest daily newspapers, Zaman; and an American cable television network, Ebru-TV, based in New Jersey.

Mr. Gulen, 70, considers his teachings a bulwark against Islamic extremism. Yet he and the movement that bears his name have been surrounded by controversy in Turkey. He came to this country in 1999 while under pressure from secular Turkish authorities who accused him of promoting an Islamic state. He was charged, though the case was thrown out. More recently, the arrests of Turkish journalists critical of the Gulen movement have led to accusations of retaliation by followers in the current government, which has a more religious leaning.

Mr. Gulen now lives in a Pennsylvania retreat owned by a foundation. In an interview there last year with The International Herald Tribune, he said he had not benefited financially from the movement. His only possessions, he said, were a blanket, some bed sheets and a few prized books.

Still, at least for the schools, America has been a land of opportunity. The creation story has been enacted across the country — Turkish immigrants, often scientists or professors, founding charter schools run by boards of mostly Turkish-born men. Today the United States has more Gulen-inspired schools than any country but Turkey, according to a presentation by Joshua Hendrick, a professor at Loyola University Maryland whose 2009 dissertation explored the movement.

In Texas, Harmony now educates more than 16,000 children. Eight schools have opened in the last year alone.

Dr. Yildirim said that while he had been influenced by Mr. Gulen — he writes and speaks about his teachings — his primary motivation in starting the schools was to give back to the community.

“My life changed here. I’m so thankful for that,” he said. “I believe some people born in this country are taking some things for granted.”

At first, Harmony Schools used a mix of local American and Turkish immigrant contractors. But as it has grown, especially in the rush of new schools, Harmony has increasingly relied on its Turkish network.

In response to questions, Harmony provided a list showing that local American contractors had been awarded 13 construction and renovation jobs over the years. But a review of contracts since January 2009 — 35 contracts and $82 million worth of work — found that all but 3 jobs totaling about $1.5 million went to Turkish-owned businesses.

TDM, builder of the new San Antonio school, is one of several companies that stand out — for the size of their contracts, their seemingly overnight success or both. One of TDM’s owners, records and interviews show, is Kemal Oksuz, president of the Turquoise Council for Americans and Eurasians, an umbrella group over several foundations established by Gulen followers. Since TDM was formed in November 2009, its work has involved only Harmony Schools and a job at the Turquoise Council headquarters, according to a company accountant.

Another TDM principal is a civil engineer, Osman Ozguc.

“Please don’t think that I’m a new guy, inexperienced in this area,” Mr. Ozguc said when asked about the San Antonio project, explaining that he had 26 years of construction experience, mostly on large projects in Turkey. “I provided all the requirements asked in the bid. And when we got the job, we delivered in a very short time period, and with a very economical result.” He did acknowledge that change orders had added about $1 million to the cost.

Mr. Ozguc said he formed TDM after a split from Solidarity, another Houston company that has done major ground-up construction jobs for Harmony in the past two years. Records show that Solidarity is run by Levent Ulusal, a civil engineer with a prior connection to Harmony: he was a school business manager until March 2009, when he joined Solidarity.

Since Texas charter schools do not get separate public money for facilities, Harmony’s construction program is financed by bonds that will be paid off over time using regular public payments to the schools, bond documents show. The group has issued more than $200 million in bonds since 2007, making it the state’s largest charter school bond issuer.

[The Texas Legislature is presently considering charter school legislation that would allow the Permanent School Funds to be used to pay for charter school bonds. -- Donna Garner]

With public money in play, Texas law requires charter schools to award contracts to the bidder that offers the “best value.” Lowest is not necessarily best, with the schools given leeway. But the criteria for choosing the best bidder must be clear.

Last year, local contractors questioned the fairness of bidding on two Harmony renovation jobs in the Austin area. On one job, in the suburb of Pflugerville, the low bidder, at $1.17 million, was a well-known Texas company, Harvey-Cleary. The job went to Atlas Texas Construction and Trading, even though its bid was several hundred thousand dollars higher. Atlas, with offices in Texas and Turkey, shows up on a list of Gulen-affiliated companies in a 2006 cable from the American Consul General in Istanbul, Deborah K. Jones, that was released by WikiLeaks.

A vice president of Harvey-Cleary said Harmony never explained its decision.

The same day Atlas won the Pflugerville contract, it got a job at another Austin-area Harmony school, even though four bidders came in lower.

Harmony Schools asked two architects to analyze the disputed Austin jobs. Both architects had previously worked for Harmony Schools; both concluded that the jobs should have been awarded to Atlas.

Atlas has an eclectic business portfolio: for several years, it has also supplied breakfast and lunch at many Harmony schools. The contract is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Two other bidders submitted formal catering proposals. One was Preferred Meal Systems, a national company that undercut Atlas’s price by 78 cents a day, a substantial margin given that the two meals are often supplied for about $4.

Jim Drumm, the regional vice president for Preferred Meal, said that when the company learned that its bid was lower than the winner’s, “We attempted, without success, to recontact Harmony Schools to learn why our proposal was rejected.”

Dr. Tarim said Preferred Meal was turned down because its food is heated in special company-installed ovens. With no kitchens in the schools, he said, there is no room for ovens.

Inside the Schools

Recently Dr. Tarim led a tour of one of Harmony’s big renovation jobs — the new home of the Harmony Science Academy, the chain’s marquee Houston high school. The academy, one of 11 Harmony schools in Houston, was recently rated among the city’s top 10 high schools by Children at Risk, an advocacy group. The campus used to be an ITT business center, and even now, the low-slung buildings communicate office park more than high school. There is also a new building, constructed by TDM, housing a gym and the Cosmos Foundation’s headquarters.

This being Texas, the academy is conspicuous for the absence of a football field. But in many ways, the Harmony Schools seem much like standard public schools, albeit of the strict, testing-oriented sort in vogue today.

Students wear uniforms, and anything that detracts from uniform appearance — even hoop earrings or highlighted hair — is frowned upon. One teacher described a disciplinary system in which students receive points for behavioral infractions as minor as tilting back in a chair.

The students, as at most Gulen-inspired schools, represent a racial and ethnic cross-section of the community. Many are children of immigrants drawn by the upwardly mobile allure of careers in technology and health care. Beginning in fourth grade, all students must complete science projects.

In a physics class, students demonstrated a homemade hovercraft — a simple plywood disc fitted with a chair. Rigged to a leaf blower, the contraption levitated inches above the ground, even with someone in the chair.

The project illustrates principles of physics, but the larger point, said the teacher, Levent Sakar, is developing an excitement about science.

“Once a student does a project like that, they will never forget it,” he said.

Still, the bottom line is measurable achievement. And so the Harmony schools place a heavy emphasis on preparing for state assessment tests, with four practice tests annually, according to schedules on school Web sites. Each practice test occupies the better part of a week, and students who fail get mandatory tutoring, some of it on Saturdays.

Judging school quality, of course, is an imprecise business. But by the measure that Harmony and most charter schools have embraced — scores on the state tests — the Harmony schools seem to be succeeding. Last year, 16 of the schools were deemed “exemplary,” the highest rating, while seven were rated “recognized,” and the other two “academically acceptable.” The eight new schools have not yet been rated.

The Harmony schools advertise themselves as college preparatory schools with every graduate accepted to college, and a bulletin board in the hallway at the science academy displays pictures of this year’s senior class, along with their college acceptances. But Harmony’s “100 percent” acceptance rate actually represents only a small census, since most of the schools do not have senior classes and many students transfer earlier on. Statewide, 154 students graduated this year, the largest class yet.

And while the schools’ combined math and English SAT scores — an average of 1026 — were 37 points above the statewide average last year, they fell short of the 1100 on those two parts that the state regards as predicting “college readiness.”

[In other words, Harmony students do well at mastering how to “play the game” on the state-mandated TAKS tests but fall short on actual college readiness.  Other troubling aspects to consider regarding Harmony students’ supposed academic “success” is (1) nobody monitors these Harmony Schools during the administration of tests. What is to prevent these H-1 visa teachers who are from Turkey and who have no commitment to the American value system to give their students the answers?  (2)  The Wikileaks cable from the U. S. Ambassador several years ago revealed that the Gulenists are taking over the Turkish Security Forces by giving applicants the answers to the tests. If this is their mode of operation in Turkey, it very well could be the way they operate here.  (3)  Dr. Ed Fuller’s research showed that over half of the students who start at Harmony leave.  This would certainly be a major factor in raising their TAKS scores -- weed out the weak students. -- Donna Garner]

Dr. Tarim, who came from Turkey and studied aquatic ecology at Texas A&M, objects to common references to the schools as Turkish. Still, even if they are American charter schools first and foremost, the schools do have an undeniable Turkish flavor.

Many of the furnishings are imported from Turkey — at a San Antonio school, the entryway features a turquoise arch, and the lobby ceiling is decorated with images of the sun and a star and crescent moon. Harmony advertises that its teachers “are recruited from around the world,” but most of its foreign teachers are Turkish men, and all but a handful of the 33 principals are men from Turkey. In addition to the standard foreign languages, the schools offer instruction in Turkish. They encourage students and teachers, even parents, to join subsidized trips to Turkey.

What they avoid, as publicly financed schools, is religious instruction. And amid jabs from critics — educators, disaffected parents and bloggers — about their Turkishness and ties to a Muslim group, the schools take great pains to separate themselves from the Gulen movement. They are not “Gulen schools,” they insist, and have no affiliation with any movement.

“I’m not a follower of anybody,” Dr. Tarim said in an interview. Records show, however, that when applying to the State of Texas to form Harmony schools, he was a consultant to Virginia International University in Fairfax, one of the private universities that lawyers for Mr. Gulen say were originally inspired by his teachings.

At a forum on the schools last December in Houston, Dr. Hendrick, the Maryland professor, argued that such denials had only deepened the ambiguity and helped fuel suspicion. “Why do leaders deny affiliation when affiliation is clear?” he asked.

Ultimately, some scholars say, the schools are about more than just teaching schoolchildren.

Hakan Yavuz, a Turkish-born assistant professor at the University of Utah’s Middle East Center, says he does not oppose the movement, though he is critical of what he calls its male domination and lack of transparency. In his view, the schools are the foundation for the movement’s attempts to grow in the United States.

“The main purpose right now is to show the positive side of Islam and to make Americans sympathize with Islam,” Dr. Yavuz said.

Teachers and Visas

Around the country, the most persistent controversy involving the schools — and the one most covered in the news — centers on the hundreds of Turkish teachers and administrators working on special visas.

The schools say they bring in foreign teachers because of a shortage of Americans qualified to teach math and science. Of the 1,500 employees at the Texas Harmony schools this year, Dr. Tarim said, 292 were on the special “H-1B” visas, meant for highly skilled foreign workers who fill a need unmet by the American workforce.

But some teachers and their unions, as well as immigration experts, have questioned how earnestly the schools worked to recruit American workers. They say loopholes have made it easy to bring in workers with relatively ordinary skills who substitute for American workers.

“I think they have a preference for these H-1B workers,” said Dr. Ronil Hira, a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology who has studied the visa program. “It may be a preference for a variety of reasons — lower wages or a network where they’ve got family or friends and connections and this is a stepping stone for them to get a green card.”

The American jobs, often offered to educators at Gulen schools around the world or graduates of Gulen universities, also provide a way for the movement to expand its ranks in this country, Dr. Yavuz said.

American consular employees reviewing visas have questioned the credentials of some teachers as they sought to enter the country. “Most applicants had no prior teaching experience, and the schools were listed as related to” Mr. Gulen, a consular employee wrote in a 2009 cable. It did not say which schools had hired the teachers. Some with dubious credentials were denied visas.

In February, a Chicago charter school union affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers complained to the federal Department of Labor, alleging that the Chicago Math and Science Academy and Concept Schools, a group that operates 25 schools in the Midwest, had abused the visa system by “routinely assigning these teachers duties or class load that seemingly do not take into account the laws governing H1-B visa holders.”

The Labor Department had already been investigating at least one Concept school. The investigation appeared to have been triggered by a complaint in July 2008 by Mustafa Emanet, a network systems administrator and teacher at a middle school in Cleveland. By law, imported teachers must be paid “prevailing wage.” Mr. Emanet alleged that while his visa reflected his promised salary, $44,000, he was actually paid $28,000 his first year.

A Labor Department spokesman said the investigation was ongoing.

Expanding the Network

The heart of the movement’s Texas operations is the Turquoise Center, a Houston complex that houses several foundations established by Gulen followers. Their activities show how the movement has integrated itself into life in Texas, often by dint of the foundations’ connections to the Harmony Schools.

The Turquoise Center opened in 2008, financed partly through donations from Gulen followers, who on average tithe 10 percent of their income, experts say. The money, Dr. Hendrick wrote in his dissertation, goes “to pay for a student’s scholarship, to provide start-up capital for a new school, to send a group of influential Americans on a two-week trip to Turkey or to sponsor an academic conference devoted to Fethullah Gulen.”

Dozens of Texans — from state lawmakers to congressional staff members to university professors — have taken trips to Turkey partly financed by the foundations.

One group, the Raindrop Foundation, helped pay for State Senator Leticia Van de Putte’s travel to Istanbul last year, according to a recent campaign report. In January, she co-sponsored a Senate resolution commending Mr. Gulen for “his ongoing and inspirational contributions to promoting global peace and understanding.”

In an interview, Ms. Van de Putte described the trip as a working visit.

The Raindrop Foundation says its mission is to promote Turkish culture in America. It sponsors cooking classes, traditional Turkish dinners and performances of the Whirling Dervishes, a dance group associated with Sufi Muslim tradition. It also organizes an annual Turkish Language Olympiad where 6,000 students, many from Harmony schools, compete in Turkish language, poetry, dance and singing contests.

The 2011 singing winner was a Hispanic girl from a Harmony school in northwest Houston.

The Raindrop Foundation’s president, Mehmet Okumus, is a former Harmony school principal, and some of the foundation’s income — $770,000 a year, he said — comes through arrangements with the schools. Two Raindrop Foundation units, Zenith Learning and Merit Learning, operate after-school programs, test preparation programs and summer camps at the schools. Parents pay Zenith up to $200 a week to leave their children after school. Of that, Harmony collects 25 cents per child per day, according to Dr. Tarim.

Another group at the Turquoise Center, the Institute of Interfaith Dialog, sponsors lectures on interfaith relations and finances the Gulen Institute at the University of Houston, which sponsors graduate scholarships in social work and pays for graduate students to study in Turkey.

The Institute of Interfaith Dialog — founded by Mr. Gulen himself, according to court documents — does not appear to have business dealings with Harmony. But its president, Yuksel Alp Aslandogan, does. Indeed, in 2002, he purchased the former Austin church that became Harmony’s second school.

Dr. Aslandogan, a former computer science professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, paid $1.375 million for the building, then leased it to Harmony. Last year, he said in an e-mail, Harmony bought it for $1.7 million. He described his original purchase as “an investment opportunity toward a good cause” but declined to say how much he made off the deal, emphasizing that he had to pay taxes and make repairs.

Dr. Aslandogan has other connections to Harmony. He is chief executive of the Texas Gulf Foundation, a nonprofit that provides an array of services to the schools.

The foundation, in fact, grew out of Harmony: its owners and operators originally worked for the schools, according to a statement from Harmony, but left to form Texas Gulf, which they believed would “provide Harmony and other Texas schools with quality services at lower costs.” Until recently, Texas Gulf had offices at a Harmony campus.

Since 2007, Harmony says, it has paid Texas Gulf $525,000 for services that include an online professional development program for teachers and administrators, an assessment tool for students and special education assessments.

Dr. Aslandogan reflected on his role in Texas’ Turkish community in a PBS program on the Gulen movement broadcast in January. He said he donates “beyond the expected level in my income” and added: “I believe that all these actions — charitable donations, volunteerism — are pleasing to God. That’s why I am doing all this.”

SUBSTANTIVE RESOURCES ON GULEN SCHOOLS

 

5.28.11 -- “Return of Islamic College Raises New Questions” by David Lepeska --

http://libertylinked.com/posts/7445/return-of-islam-college---/View.aspx

5.20.11 -- “Feds Question Schools' Visa Use: Federal Funds Used To Pay for Teachers' Families” by Jennifer Smith Richards  --

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/05/20/feds-question-schools-visa-use.html?sid=101

 

5.2011 - “Harmony Science Academy, Cosmos Foundation: Evidence of Affiliation with the Gulen Movement” --

http://gulencharterschools.weebly.com/harmony-science-academy-cosmos-foundation.html

5.1.11 “Frog in the Water”  by Donna Garner --

http://www.educationnews.org/commentaries/insights_on_education/155212.html

4.19.11 -- “Flood of Turkish Teachers Prompts Investigation: Witness Says Feds Looking into Islam-Influenced Network” World Net Daily --

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=289153

4.11.11 -- “H-1B + K-12 = ? A First Look at the Implications of Foreign Teacher Recruitment” by David North --

http://www.cis.org/h-1b-teacher-recruitment

4.9.11 -- “Harmony Charter” by Dr. Ed Fuller --

http://fullerlook.wordpress.com/2011/04/09/harmony-charters/

4.5.11 - “Turkish Authorities Launch Raids To Censor Book before Publication”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/05/turkey-censorship-ahmet-sik-perrier

4.5.11 -- “Texas: Land of Charters and Economic Opportunity” by Peyton Wolcott --

http://www.peytonwolcott.com/

3.30.11 -- “Is Fethullah Gulen Working for the CIA?” by Dr. Aland Mizell --
 

http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc043011AM.html

3.26.11 -- “Gulen Is Indeed a Dangerous Man” by Donna Garner --

http://www.educationnews.org/political/152367.html

3.24.11 -- “FBI Launches Investigation of Gulen and His Movement” by Paul L.
Williams --

http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/34766

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3.24.11 -- “Re: FBI Investigation of Gulen Schools (a.k.a., Harmony Science Academies in Texas) by Donna Garner, EducationNews.org  --

http://www.educationnews.org/commentaries/insights_on_education/152233.html

Here is a YouTube (Parts 1 and 2) by a TV news station in Pennsylvania that tells of the FBI investigation of the Gulen schools in Pennsylvania and across the country:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN04cOqLc9g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZtg9jfVZbo 

==========================

3.22.11 -- “Young Scholars Charter School Faces Scrutiny over Ties with Islamic Leader” --  

http://www.centredaily.com/2011/03/22/2597590/charter-school-faces-scrutiny.html#ixzz1HJbliDXz

======================

2.10.11 -- “Texas Senate Honors Islamist Imam, Fethullah Gulen” by Donna Garner --

The Texas Senate passed SR 85 on Jan. 25, 2011.  Guess who was honored:  Fethullah Gulen.   “WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas is pleased to recognize Fethullah Gˇlen for his ongoing and inspirational contributions to the promotion of global peace and

Understanding...” 

Here is the link: 

http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/billtext/pdf/SR00085F.pdf#navpanes=0

The authors of SR 85 are Senators Lucio, Fraser, Huffman, Nelson, and Van de Putte:  http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/history.aspx?LegSess=82R&Bill=SR85

Now look at how this action by the Texas Senate was viewed by the people in Turkey.  This link is to a Turkish newspaper article that covered this “momentous” decision: 
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-233740-texas-senate-passes-resolution-commending-fethullah-gulen.html

===============

3.3.11 -- “7 More Journalists Detained in Turkey” by Sebnem Arsu --

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/world/europe/04turkey.html?_r=1

10.17.10 -- “TIZA, an Islamic Public School, Threatens and Intimidates Witnesses in ACLU Lawsuit” --

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/10/tiza-an-islamic-public-school-threatens-and-intimidates-witnesses-in-aclu-lawsuit.html

8.16.10 -- “Fethullah Gulen: Infiltrating the U.S. Through Our Charter Schools?” by Guy Rodgers of Act! for America --

http://www.actforamerica.org/index.php/learn/email-archives/1069-fethulla-gulen-infiltrating-us-through-our-charter-schools/

3.29.10 -- “Islamist Gülen Movement Runs U.S. Charter Schools” by Stephen Schwartz --

http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/03/islamist_guelen_movement_runs.html

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

Fethullah Gulen and Charter Schools--Propping Up Islamization in American Children with Taxpayer Money

Subject::  Fethullah Gulen and his “frog in the boiling water” plan for American charter school children

The premise is that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out; but if the frog is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. 

The danger is that by the time parents (and the taxpaying public) are discerning enough to figure out that the children in the Gulen charter schools are being indoctrinated into pro-Islam/anti-American thinking, the children will already be “cooked.”  -- Donna Garner

==============================

December 2010 trip to Turkey shows big details elude Austin ISD

April 6th 2011 By Curt Olson

COlson@TexasBudgetSource.com

http://www.texasbudgetsource.com/2011/04/december-trip-to-turkey-shows-big-details-elude-austin-isd/

The signs of financial crisis flashed everywhere for Austin Independent School District leaders.

A drop in property values hit its revenue stream between 2009 and 2010 and they expected lower state aid in 2012-13.

The district has now declared financial exigency and cut $94 million from its budget.

The Austin-American Statesman recently chastised Superintendent Meria Carstarphen in an editorial for botching a move to consider early retirement incentives in Austin ISD. She responded that those incentives will be too costly to the district. Yet, Board President Mark Williams admitted the missteps and the incentives should have been brought up in January.

Perhaps Austin ISD leaders should give more scrutiny to teachers they let go.

Austin ISD’s 2011 “Teacher of the Year” spoke at the recent “Save Our Schools” rally at the State Capitol. She said she and other “excellent teachers” have received notices they could lose their jobs.

No one doubts this is a stressful time in Austin ISD. But it’s becoming obvious that on big issues, important details elude the leadership.

Consider the “free” trip halfway around the world that Carstarphen and 10 other district curriculum directors and teachers took between December 14 and December 23, 2010.

Austin ISD had a responsibility to do their due diligence – even for a “free” trip, but they did not do it.

Austin ISD has a new relationship with Raindrop Turkish House (RTH), which will assist district staff in creating a curriculum on Turkey. This should assist teachers in preparing students for certain questions on state assessment tests.

It seemed obvious that completing their due diligence was the least taxpayers deserved.

However, Austin ISD was enthusiastic about the trip to Turkey. That enthusiasm extended from the superintendent to the board. Carstarphen and Board President Mark Williams did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.

At one time 12 administrators and teachers were scheduled for the trip. However, 11 people made the trip before Christmas. The Austin Aztex soccer team gave Austin ISD $14,400 to cover the cost for airfares, meals, parking, visas, and other incidentals for Austin ISD leaders and staff to make the trip to Turkey and back.

RTH [Rainbow Turkish House -- a Gulen school] paid for the stay and activities in Turkey, with included meetings at schools that had some madrassas, Islamic religious schools.

Now, RTH in Houston and Austin will assist Austin ISD in drafting a curriculum design, resources and instruction.

The RTH is connected to Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish imam who exiled himself to Saylorsburg, Pa. in 1999 under armed guard. Saylorsburg, Pa. is in Northeastern Pennsylvania near the Pocono Mountains. Gulen exiled himself because he faced charges of trying to overthrow the Turkish government. It is believed Gulen, who is a billionaire with a vast network of organizations and schools, including charter schools throughout the world and in the U.S., wants to restore the Ottoman Empire to Turkey.

Gulen has more than 80 charter schools nationwide, and in Texas more than 30 affiliated with the Cosmos Foundation, which also is a Gulen organization.

This trip’s clearest connection to Gulen is a photograph taken of a few people from the Texas delegation while they were in Turkey. A picture and article of the Texas visitors appeared during their trip in Today’s Zaman, the English language version of the Gulen newspaper. Today’s Zaman’s U.S. correspondent has acknowledged the publication is Gulenist.

Many of Gulen’s organizations, including RTH and the Cosmos Foundation, have noble goals: open dialogue with people of different faiths and its charter schools.

However, foreign policy experts who have watched events in Turkey say there are reasons for concern.

One person is Michael Rubin, who worked as a Pentagon staff adviser on Iran and Iraq from 2002-04 in the administration of former President George W. Bush. Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Rubin described Gulen as “controversial,” “secretive,” and a man who “operates a number of front groups.”

Additionally, multiple cables from the U.S. State Department express concerns about Gulen because he is less than transparent about his goals. The State Department is no bastion of conservatism.

In an e-mail response, Austin ISD dismissed the need to check out RTH by not even answering a couple of questions. Again, the superintendent did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.

The trip to Turkey likely will benefit those who went – and it will benefit the preparation of Austin students for future state tests.

However, the trip in December – in light of the financial crisis confronting Austin ISD – displays the epitome of tone deafness. Why would you travel halfway around the world with a financial crisis of this magnitude?

Additionally, the lack of due diligence on Gulen reveals that on the big issues the big details get overlooked. Perhaps some important financial questions were overlooked because the district’s leader was out of the country for 10 days just before Christmas.

Austin ISD will get their new Turkey curriculum, but at what price?

There were enough red flags about Gulen. All they had to do was look and ask some probing questions.

=============================

List of U. S. publicly funded Gulen schools: 

http://turkishinvitations.weebly.com/list-of-us-schools.html

Total number of schools currently in operation:  119
Number of states with schools in current operation:   25

============================

4.20.11 -- “A Closer Look at the Cosmos Foundation/Harmony School Charter Operation in Texas” -- by Peyton Wolcott --

http://peytonwolcott.com/

===========================

“Harmony Science Academies Tied to Gulen Charter Schools”

by Donna Garner

3.1.11

Here is the documentation to show that the Harmony Science Academies in Texas are directly tied to the Gulen Movement. We always need to bear in mind that Fethullah Gulen is an Islamist imam:  

1.  Guidestar -- Cosmos Foundation, Texas (a.k.a., Harmony Public Schools -- http://www2.guidestar.org/organizations/76-0615245/cosmos-foundation.aspx )

Cosmos Foundation is the management company for Harmony Science Academies, and the CFO of Cosmos is Umit Pecen; he attends the funding board meetings with Sonar Tarim. 

(Please see http://harmonyparenttruth.blogspot.com/2011/01/harmony-science-academy-charter-school_18.html to learn more about Umit Pecen.)  

(Please go to http://www.chroniclewatch.com/2010/06/21/islamic-movement-engulfs-lone-star-state/ to learn more about Sonar Tarim.)

2.  Oct. 7, 2010 -- Dr. Helen Rose Ebaugh -- “Mapping the Gulen Movement” -- Professor of Sociology, University of Houston --  Please slide the marker to 11:52 where Dr. Ebaugh says there are 25 Gulen charter schools in Texas (a.k.a., Cosmos Foundation -- Harmony Science Academies).  If these are not the Harmony Science Academies, to what other schools is she referring?  Obviously she means the Harmony Science Academies and that they are Gulen schools.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJmldzfD884&feature=related

In Dr. Ebaugh’s remarks, she stated that she had traveled to Turkey to study the Gulen Movement; and she learned that after Gulen investors put up the capital for the Gulen schools for a couple of years, the schools operate on their own.

This should be the same model used in the United States. If individual citizens want to put up the money for the Harmony Science Academies to get them started, that would be a matter to be decided in the private sector; but we taxpayers should not have our tax dollars used to pay for any schools that are tied to the Muslim movement.

3.  PBS, “The Gulen Movement,” Jan. 25, 2011:  http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/january-21-2011/gulen-movement/7949/

Excerpts from this website:

SEVERSON: Gülen-inspired volunteers from Turkey bring Turkish language and culture with them. In Houston they sponsor a Turkish Olympiad where American students compete in Turkish dance and song. The winners compete in an annual competition in Ankara, Turkey. There are more than a 1000 Gülen-inspired schools and universities in over 100 countries...

SEVERSON: In Texas there are 33 nationally recognized public charter schools with over 16,000 students grades K through 12. They’re called Harmony schools, and the Turkish superintendent insists they are strictly secular and in no way connected to Gülen. [As shown in Points #1 and #2, the Harmony Science Academies most certainly are Gulen schools. -- Donna Garner]  Professor Ebaugh says there’s a reason for this kind of sensitivity. [Dr. Ebaugh has stated publicly that she believes the Gulen charter schools in the United States should be more forthcoming about their links to him and to Turkey because she does not believe they have anything to hide. -- Donna Garner]

(4)  Students in the Gulen schools celebrate various Turkish Muslim holidays, and students frequently win trips to Turkey. 

Donna Garner
wgarner1@hot.rr.com

===========================

“Gulen Is Indeed a Dangerous Man” -- 3.26.11 --- by Donna Garner http://www.educationnews.org/political/152367.html

Donna Garner - The subject of the cable was Fethullah Gulen, an Islamist imam, who is behind the Gulen Movement and the Gulen Charter Schools in America (a.k.a., Harmony Schools in Texas). Ambassador Jeffrey gives what he wants America’s stock answer to be if anyone ever charges the United States with “sheltering” Gulen.

A link was posted as a comment under my 3.24.11 article on EducationNews.org — http://www.educationnews.org/commentaries/insights_on_education/152233.html  –  entitled “FBI Investigation of Gulen Schools (a.k.a., Harmony Science Academies in Texas).”

Someone named Francis Venturini posted his comment on 3.25.11 at 5:18 A. M. and proceeded to give a link to the original Wikileaks cable sent on 12.4.09 from Embassy Ankara, Turkey, by Ambassador James Jeffrey [U. S. Ambassador to Turkey from 2008 - 2010].

I have never read a cable released by Wikileaks before (link posted at the bottom of this e-mail), but I believe this is what it said: 

The subject of the cable was Fethullah Gulen, an Islamist imam, who is behind the Gulen Movement and the Gulen Charter Schools in America (a.k.a., Harmony Schools in Texas).

Listed in the header to the cable are such words as Confidential, Ambassador James Jeffrey, Embassy Ankara, Secretary of State/Washington D. C., Secretary of Defense, CIA, Joint Staff, etc.  

At the end of the 2009 cable, Ambassador Jeffrey gives what he wants America’s stock answer to be if anyone ever charges the United States with “sheltering” Gulen.

I found it very disturbing that by 2009 when Ambassador Jeffrey wrote this cable, the Gulenists had already taken over the Turkish National Police by giving applicants the answers to the exams.  If this is standard protocol in Turkey by the Gulenists, I have to ask whether there is any outside monitoring of test security when the Gulen Charter Schools in the United States administer the state-mandated tests (TAKS in Texas) and the SAT/ACT.  If not, can we trust the Gulen Charter Schools’ (a.k.a., Harmony Schools in Texas) test results to be credible?

Notice that this cable from Embassy Ankara was written back in 2009. It was after that time in May and June of 2010 when the Gaza Strip flotilla fired on the Israelis; Turkey helped Iran to create a plan to avoid sanctions; and the Turkish prime minister said he regarded Iran’s President Ahmadinejad as a friend.

 

The author of  the 6.3.10 article entitled “It’s Not About the Flotilla: Turkey Changed Sides Years Ago” stated that the breakdown in U. S. and Israeli relations occurred in 2008 when Turkey elected an Islamist government: 

 

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/its-not-about-the-flotilla-turkey-changed-sides-years-ago/

 

All of this occurred during the time that the Gulen Movement was infiltrating Turkey and becoming more aggressive by taking over the news media, political structure, security police, educational system, and other institutions.  It cannot be a coincidence that as the Gulenist Movement in Turkey has grown, the Turkish relationship with the United States has deteriorated.

 

Is it any wonder that many Americans are worried about the Gulen Charter Schools and their Islamic influence upon our own public school children?  It is not a stretch to think that the Gulen Movement may be trying to take over our country using the same strategies they have used in Turkey.  

Combine this with the fact that a Texas legislator recently told me that he, unlike some of his fellow legislators, had refrained from accepting free trips to Turkey offered by Gulen/Cosmos Foundation/Harmony Schools.  I have also been told that many high-level policymakers on both sides of the aisle, selected news media pesonalities, and Congressmen have taken these free trips to Turkey — the center of the elegant Ottoman Empire — where they have been wined and dined royally by the Gulenists.  Students at the Harmony Schools also are sent on these Turkish trips.  

FYI:  The United States has two key permanent bases in the Middle East.  Incirlik, Turkey, and Riyad, Saudi Arabia. These are strategic installations.  For reference, Incirlik was the home base for all U-2 flights over Russia before satellites.  Riyad was the staging point for both Iraqi Wars. Both bases are essential in the Middle East.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incirlik_Air_Base

============================

4.19.11 -- World Net Daily

Flood of Turkish teachers prompts investigation
Witness says feds looking into Islam-influenced network

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=289153

=============

In Texas:

“…there were also 401 applications filed by the Houston-based Cosmos Foundation for a state-wide cluster of Turkish-sponsored charter schools, a Gülen organization…These H-1B hirings were taking place just as school systems across the country were preparing to lay off tens of thousands of public school teachers…” (CIS -- Center for Immigration Studies -- April 2011; http://www.cis.org/h-1b-teacher-recruitment/)

=======================

“Harmony Charter Schools: Gaming the System?”

Introduction by Donna Garner

4.10.11

Dr. Ed Fuller’s study shows that Texas’ Harmony Charter Schools have an exceedingly high disappearance rate of low-performing students.  Dr. Fuller says this definitely is “one way to increase the overall average performance and obtain higher accountability ratings than otherwise would have been obtained.”  

Harmony Charter Schools may well be gaming the system.  Also, are there any Texas Education Agency TAKS, ACT, or SAT monitors who unexpectedly drop in to observe the test security of these Harmony Charter Schools to make sure that they are not cheating on their test scores?  Regular public schools in Texas are monitored for TAKS test security. -- Donna Garner]

http://fullerlook.wordpress.com/2011/04/09/harmony-charters/

A "Fuller" Look at Education Issues

Examining K-12 and higher ed issues across the country by Dr. Ed Fuller

Teaser on Charter School Report

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Dr. Ed Fuller

===========================

Re:  FBI Investigation of Gulen Schools (a.k.a., Harmony Science Academies in Texas) -- 3.23.11  

Here is a YouTube (Parts 1 and 2) by a TV news station in Pennsylvania that tells of the FBI investigation of the Gulen schools in Pennsylvania and across the country:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN04cOqLc9g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZtg9jfVZbo 

If you have pertinent information or have observed anything suspicious about the Gulen schools in Texas (a.k.a., Harmony Science Academies), here is the phone number for the Dallas FBI office (972-559-5000).  When you call, ask to be directed to “Intake.”  I verified this contact information this morning.  

At the bottom of this e-mail, I have posted some recent articles on the Gulen Movement and also information about Turkey and why it is so important for the United States to maintain a definite presence there. -- Donna Garner

==================

3.22.11 -- http://www.centredaily.com/2011/03/22/2597590/charter-school-faces-scrutiny.html#ixzz1HJbliDXz

YOUNG SCHOLARS by Ed McMahon

Young Scholars charter school faces scrutiny over ties with Islamic leader

===============================================

 Other recent articles on the Gulen Movement and its harmful influence both in Turkey and in the United States:

3.14.11 -- Education or Indoctrination? By Gadi Adelman:  http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.8968/pub_detail.asp

3.21.11 -- Newly released Wikileaks documents show increased concern among U.S. officials of the Gulen Movement by Dr. Paul L. Williams:

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/34651

3.10.11 --  U.S. charter-school network with Turkish link draws federal attention

by Martha Woodall and Claudio Gatti -- Philly News:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/118313549.html?viewAll=y

========================

For Your Information -- Why America needs to maintain good relations with Turkey --

We have two key permanent bases in the Middle East.  Incirlik, Turkey, and Riyad, Saudi Arabia. These are strategic installations.  For reference, Incirlik was the home base for all U-2 flights over Russia before satellites.  Riyad was the staging point for both Iraqi Wars. Both bases are essential in the Middle East. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incirlik_Air_Base

Incirlik Air Base (Turkish: İncirlik Hava Üssü) (ICAO: LTAG) is located in İncirlik, five miles east^[1] of Adana, Turkey's fifth largest city, and 56 kilometres (35 mi) from the Mediterranean Sea. The U.S. Air Force and the Turkish Air Force are the primary users of the base.

Incirlik is the home of the 10th Air Wing (Ana Jet Üs or AJÜ) of the 2nd Air Force Command (Hava Kuvvet Komutanlığı) of the Turkish Air Force (Türk Hava Kuvvetleri). Other wings of this command are located in Merzifon (LTAP), Malatya/Erhaç (LTAT) and Diyarbakır (LTCC).^[2]

Incirlik has a United States Air Force (U.S.A.F.) complement of about 5,000 airmen, with several hundred British and Turkish Air Force airmen also present (-late 2002). The primary unit stationed here is the 39th Air Base Wing (39 ABW) of the U.S.A.F.

Incirlik has one 3048 meter-long main runway ^[1] and one 2740 meter-long secondary runway, both located among about 57 hardened aircraft shelters.

================================

4.30.11 -- “Is Gulen in Bed with Politicians and the CIA?” --  http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc043011AM.html -- Dr. Aland Mizell

Excerpts from this article:

Gulen teaches that hearts are created as safes for keeping secrets. Intelligence is their lock; will power is their key. No one can break into the safe and steal its valuables if the lock or keys are not faulty. He urges his followers to bear in mind that those who carry others' secrets to you might bear yours to others. Further, he cautions them not to give such tactless people any chance to learn even the smallest details of your private concerns. A secret is a power only as long as it stays with its owner but is a weapon that may be used against its owner if it passes into the hands of others.

Developing his point, Gulen explains, “This is the meaning of one of our traditional sayings: ‘The secret is your slave but you become its slave if you disclose it.’” The details of many important affairs can be protected only if they are kept secret.

Often enough when the involved parties do not keep certain matters secret no progress is achieved. In addition, serious risks might confront those who are involved particularly if the matter concerns delicate issues of national life and its continuation. This doctrine admonishes them, “Explain what you must but never give away all of your secrets. Those who freely publicize the secrets of their hearts drag themselves and their nation toward an inevitable downfall. If a state cannot protect its secrets from its enemies it cannot develop. If an army reveals its strategy to its antagonists it cannot attain victory. If key workers are won over by the competitors their employers cannot succeed.” Secrecy undergirds Gulen’s life and movement…

What Gulenists want is total power and one-man rule; they want a status so that none could dare to object to them or to their leader, because they sincerely believe that Allah has chosen them to disseminate their brand of Turkish Islam to the world, and therefore that everything they do is right and without mistakes. That is why the best weapon for a dictator’s regime is secrecy, but the best weapon for a real democracy is openness and transparency, is it not? How democratic, open, and transparent are the Gulenists?

…Why would the Gulenists deny their relation to the CIA? The truth seems to be optional for Gulenists. According to Gulen’s teachings, his followers have an obligation to know the truth but that truth cannot be revealed anywhere anytime, because if the time is not right, they cannot tell the truth.  For example, the strategy of denial is fabricated to appear that they are not part of any movement or community if any charge against them appears in the news…Rather, they are to work patiently and silently until all the institutions are in order to seize power. Timing about when and how to reveal their true goal is very crucial for the Gulenists. Gulenists are experts on how to buy and use persons for their interest.

===================================

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com

Fethullah Gulen and His Charter Schools Draws Federal Attention

[In Texas -- Harmony Science Academies]

Philly News -- Sun, Mar. 20, 2011

U.S. charter-school network with Turkish link draws federal attention

By Martha Woodall and Claudio Gatti

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/118313549.html?viewAll=y

Fethullah Gulen is a major Islamic political figure in Turkey [Gulen is an Islamist imam -- Donna Garner], but he lives in self-imposed exile in a Poconos enclave and gained his green card by convincing a federal judge in Philadelphia that he was an influential educational figure in the United States.

As evidence, his lawyer pointed to the charter schools, now more than 120 in 25 states, that his followers - Turkish scientists, engineers, and businessmen - have opened, including Truebright Science Academy in North Philadelphia and another charter in State College, Pa.

The schools are funded with millions of taxpayer dollars. Truebright alone receives more than $3 million from the Philadelphia School District for its 348 pupils. Tansu Cidav, the acting chief executive officer, described it as a regular public school.

"Charter schools are public schools," he said. "We follow the state curriculum."

But federal agencies - including the FBI and the Departments of Labor and Education - are investigating whether some charter school employees are kicking back part of their salaries to a Muslim movement founded by Gulen known as Hizmet, or Service, according to knowledgeable sources.

Unlike in Turkey, where Gulen's followers have been accused of pushing for an authoritarian Islamic state, there is no indication the American charter network has a religious agenda in the classroom.

Religious scholars consider the Gulen strain of Islam moderate, and the investigation has no link to terrorism. Rather, it is focused on whether hundreds of Turkish teachers, administrators, and other staffers employed under the H1B visa program are misusing taxpayer money.

Federal officials declined to comment on the nationwide inquiry, which is being coordinated by prosecutors in Pennsylvania's Middle District in Scranton. A former leader of the parents' group at the State College school confirmed that federal authorities had interviewed her.

Bekir Aksoy, who acts as Gulen's spokesman, said Friday that he knew nothing about charter schools or an investigation.

Aksoy, president of the Golden Generation Worship & Retreat Center in Saylorsburg, Pa., where Gulen lives, said Gulen, who is in his early 70s, "has no connection with any of the schools," although he might have inspired the people who founded them.

Another aim of the Gulen schools, a federal official said, is fostering goodwill toward Turkey, which is led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the pro-Islamic prime minister, whose government recently detained journalists after they alleged that Gulen followers were infiltrating security agencies.

Gulen schools are among the nation's largest users of the H1B visas. In 2009, the schools received government approvals for 684 visas - more than Google Inc. (440) but fewer than a technology powerhouse such as Intel Corp. (1,203).

The visas are used to attract foreign workers with math, science, and technology skills to jobs for which there are shortages of qualified American workers. Officials at some of the charter schools, which specialize in math and science, have said they needed to fill teaching spots with Turks, according to parents and former staffers.

Ruth Hocker, former president of the parents' group at the Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania Charter School in State College, began asking questions when popular, certified American teachers were replaced by uncertified Turkish men who often spoke limited English and were paid higher salaries. Most were placed in math and science classes.

"They would tell us they couldn't find qualified American teachers," Hocker said.

That made no sense in Pennsylvania State University's hometown, she said: "They graduate here every year."

Other school parents described how uncertified teachers on H1B visas were moved from one charter school to another when their "emergency" teaching credentials expired and told of a pattern of sudden turnovers of Turkish business managers, administrators, and board members.

The charter school application that Truebright filed with the Philadelphia School District in 2005 mentioned that its founders helped start similar schools in Ohio, California, and Paterson, N.J.

Shana Kemp, a School District spokeswoman, said that the district had just learned Riza Ulker, Truebright's permanent CEO, was on extended sick leave and that it would look into that. She said district officials knew nothing about a federal investigation of these charter schools.

Further evidence of the ties comes from a disaffected former teacher from Turkey who told federal investigators that the Gulen Movement had divided the United States into five regions, according to knowledgeable sources. A general manager in each coordinates the activities of the schools and related foundations and cultural centers, he told authorities.

Ohio, California, and Texas have the largest numbers of Gulen-related schools. Ohio has 19, which are operated by Concept Schools Inc., and most are known as Horizon Science Academies. There are 14 in California operated by the Magnolia Foundation. Texas has 33 known as Harmony schools, run by the Cosmos Foundation.

In their investigation, federal authorities have obtained copies of several e-mails that indicate the charter schools are tied to Hizmet and may be controlled by it:

One activist sent an e-mail Aug. 30, 2007, to administrators at four schools and the president of Concept Schools in which he mentioned "Hizmet business" and several problems that needed to be addressed so that "Hizmet will not suffer."

And the disaffected teacher who described the five regions gave authorities a document called a tuzuk, which resembles a contract and prescribes how much money Turkish teachers are supposed to return to Hizmet.

State auditors in Ohio found that a number of schools had "illegally expended" public funding to pay legal, immigration, and air-travel fees for nonemployees and retained teachers who lacked proper licenses. Audited records from the Horizon Science Academy in Cincinnati in May 2009 also say that "for the period of time under audit, 47 percent (nine of 19) of the school's teachers were not properly licensed."

The same records show that the founder of Horizon Cincinnati was listed as the CEO of the school's management firm and as president of the school's property owner.

The American charter schools were a central part of Gulen's argument that won him a green card after the Department of Homeland Security ruled that he did not meet the qualifications of an "alien of extraordinary ability" to receive a special visa.

In a lawsuit Gulen filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia in 2007 challenging the denial, his attorneys wrote: "In his position as the founder and head of the Gulen Movement, Mr. Gulen has overseen the establishment of a conglomeration of schools throughout the world, in Europe, Central Asia, and the United States."

His attorneys also referred to a letter of support from a theology professor in Illinois who described Gulen as "a leader of award-winning schools for underserved children around the world, including many schools in the major cities in America."

On July 16, 2008, U.S. District Court Judge Stewart Dalzell ruled that Gulen met the requirements for a green card.

Hocker, the State College parent, said the current CEO had assured her the school had no ties to Gulen.

Rather, he told her that Gulen had inspired him to go into education and that Turkey "wanted to be known for teaching, the way you would think of India" for information technology, Hocker said.

But she noted that when the school's founding CEO disappeared, his successor arrived from the Buffalo Academy of Science, another Gulen school. The dean of academics came from a related school in New Jersey. Ulker, Truebright's, CEO, was one of the school's founders and is a board member.

"If you start looking at their names, you can connect them back to all the other charter schools and Gulen groups," Hocker said.

She later withdrew her three children over concerns about secrecy and finances.

A sister school - Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania - is scheduled to open outside Pittsburgh in the fall.

(Young Scholars in State College and Western Pennsylvania are not connected to the Young Scholars Charter School in North Philadelphia.)

Truebright, at 926 W. Sedgley Ave., opened in 2007, enrolls seventh through 12th graders, and is about to hold its first graduation. Ninety percent of its students are African American. The school has met the academic standards of the federal No Child Left Behind Law the last two years.

Cidav, the acting CEO, came from the Harmony Science Academy in Austin, Texas. He said he could not comment on behalf of the school. He referred all questions to Ulker, who Cidav said had gone back to Turkey for a family emergency after Christmas and was not expected back until July. Board Chairman Baki Acikel did not respond to an e-mail request for comment.

Before Ulker's abrupt departure, he was involved in failed attempts to open charters in Camden and Allentown.

He also applied for Truebright to become one of the charter operators selected to take over failing Philadelphia schools as part of Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman's Imagine 2014 initiative. In late December, Truebright was one of 10 organizations the district deemed "not qualified" for further consideration.

Truebright Science Academy , a charter school in North Philadelphia, is one of 120 that followers of Fethullah Gulen have opened in 25 states. Another Pennsylvania school is in State College.

Fethullah Gulen and Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1998. Gulen, a major Islamic figure in Turkey, lives in the Poconos. He got a green card after touting educational leadership here.

---

Claudio Gatti is the New York-based correspondent of Il Sole 24 Ore, the leading daily financial newspaper in Italy.

Contact staff writer Martha Woodall at 215-854-2789 or martha.woodall@phillynews.com.



Gulen-Most Dangerous Islamist and US Taxpayers Are Paying For His Schools--Why--Because They Are Counting On Media To Help Them With America's Lack of Knowledge

[Please go to the following link to hear the audioclips that are embedded in this World Net Daily article. I could only post the actual text from this article.  Following the WND article is the link to the “puff” piece in yesterday’s Houston Chronicle about the Harmony Science Academies.  Let’s remember that the Gulen Institute is situated at the University of Houston. Underneath the Houston Chronicle article, I have posted the latest list of Gulen schools.  This list was provided to me by someone who has done extensive investigations into the Gulen schools and has seemingly tied the Harmony Science Academies to Gulen.

If interested, please go to my article posted at:  http://ramparts360.com/uncategorized/texas-senate-honors-islamist-imam/

From the University of Houston, Gulen Institute website:

The Gülen Institute was established in October 2007 as a non-profit organization and a joint initiative of the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work and the Institute of Interfaith Dialog.

The perspectives of the institute are inspired by the life and works of the distinguished contemporary scholar and civic leader Fethullah Gülen. Visit Fethullah Gulen Forum for updates on Fethullah Gulen and Gulen Movement.

Donna Garner]

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http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=267417

GLOBAL JIHAD
WorldNetDaily Exclusive

Islamic indoctrination on U.S. taxpayers' tab
Founder of charter school chain called 'most dangerous Islamist in the world'

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Posted: February 27, 2011
6:09 pm Eastern

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WorldNetDaily

A large network of jihad-preaching schools dots the American landscape, and it's being paid for by taxpayer dollars.

The network of more than 100 facilities in 27 states is the result of the work of Turkish expatriate billionaire Fethullah Gulen, who lives in a heavily guarded compound near Saylorsburg, Pa.

Terrorism analyst, author and Family Security Matters contributing Editor Paul Williams explains that Gulen left Turkey under a cloud, and came to the United States carrying an agenda.

"Fethullah Gulen is a chap who fled Turkey in 1998. He was attempting to avoid prosecution from the secular government at that time; he wanted to set up an Islamic government," Williams explained.

"He moved to Pennsylvania and established a mountain fortress around Saylorsburg, which is in the heart of the Poconos," Williams explained.

Court records from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania's federal courts indicate that Gulen won his removal case against Homeland Security by showing that he was an "alien of extraordinary ability," and that by staying in the United States he could pursue his work of "authoring articles and providing guidance 'to fellow scholar in the fields of theology, political science, Islamic studies, and education.'"

Williams says Gulen had help.

"The Department of Homeland Security uncovered that Gulen has over $25 billion in assets. That's more money than many countries have. Most of this money has been channeled to Gulen from the CIA," Williams asserted.

Koinonia Institute senior analyst Steve Elwart says Gulen was helped by a number of different factors.

"He was denied his visa the first time around by DHS by saying that he didn't have any experience since he was trying to come in as an educator. DHS said that he really didn't have the qualifications to hold himself out as an educator," Elwart observed.

Elwart says there was another concern.

"There were also concerns about his ties to the CIA and that as it turned out, those concerns were apparently valid, because when he appealed the decision, he got two letters of recommendation from the CIA," Elwart continued.

Listen to an interview with Elwart:

"That would strengthen the position that he did seem to have those ties," Elwart added.

Williams explains that U. S. officials may have had a reason for funneling money to Gulen.

"I'll tell you why the CIA is funding him. These countries (referring to the Middle East and former Soviet Central Asian Republics) have vast natural gas and oil reserves. They are afraid of where those reserves will go, so we want to gain some control over the supplies," Williams claimed.

Now his fingerprints are all over schools across Asia – and dozens more charter schools across the United States. Those are schools that are run on the taxpayers' money, but have private teaching agendas, often using the subtle inferences in social studies courses to advocate for Islam, observers report.

"He has these schools all over Central Asia and these counties, Tajikistan, Kurdistan, all have Turkish backgrounds. They speak Turkish. They share a Turkish culture. They share the same religion so it's really easy for him to establish these schools throughout Central Asia," Williams explained.

"They have prospered; they have grown and the countries where they are have become increasingly militant and increasingly anti-American," Williams added.

Williams says Gulen put his money to work, first in his home country of Turkey.

"He used that money to create this political party in Turkey and to take over the newspapers, and almost all of the Turkish media. He's also created a network of Islamic charter schools in Turkey that has spread through Central Asia, particularly in the newly created Russian republics," Williams also stated.

Listen to an interview with Williams:

"Gulen's movement is so radical that it is outlawed in Russia and even in The Netherlands, a country that's known for its tolerance, would not allow any funding for the Gulen schools," Williams added.

Elwart adds that there was one still another factor influencing U.S. assistance to Gulen.

"There has been a movement in the last two administrations to promote what they call moderate Islam by bringing these people forward and financing them to get people inculcated into the Muslim culture," Elwart explained.

"In terms of following the money trail, part of it I think was from the United States government. There were a number of people out there that see him as a religious leader which in fact he comes from a family of imams, and people donate to him," Elwart detailed.

Williams asserts that Gulen's long-range plans are to re-establish an Islamic caliphate.

"He created a party which is called the Justice and Development Party. The prime minister is Tayyip Erdogan. He's severed relationships with Israel and he's allied himself with Iran," Williams observed.

MEMRI Turkish expert Rachel Sharon-Krespin writes in an article in Middle East Quarterly that Fethullah Gulen is a major player in Turkish politics. Besides the Justice and Development Party, he also owns, controls or operates a network of schools and universities in Turkey, as well as the major newspapers and television stations.

In an American Thinker article, Center for Islamic Pluralism Director Stephen Schwartz says that Gulen is the power not only behind a movement in Turkey, but is the controlling force behind what Schwartz calls a Turkish Diaspora.

Elwart agrees that Gulen's intention is to use his schools to indoctrinate the students into Islam at taxpayer expense.

"Gulen has started his school system in the United States through the charter school system, which of course is publicly financed. That is one of the big worries about the Gulen movement is that they're using the charter schools to educate these kids and give them Islamic indoctrination, so to speak, and it's being done at taxpayer expense," Elwart observed.

Listen to another interview with Elwart:

Williams says the indoctrination is subtle and administrators say the schools aren't trying to be Islamic.

"They'll say these schools are completely secular. These schools don't promote any Islamic doctrine; they're not political in any way. But according to Gulen himself these schools serve, in the shadows, the creation of a new Islamic order," Williams maintained.

"If you read about Gulen in the foreign press, they have it pretty well nailed down. In speeches he talks about the importance of stealth jihad, of infiltrating places and appearing very secular," Williams added.

Gulen's claim to be a secular educator whose interest is simply in promoting interfaith dialogue appears to have been successful, as the claim was used to support District Judge Stewart Dalzell's opinion in Gulen's case.

"The final requirement is that an applicant show that his or her 'entry into the United States will substantially benefit prospectively the United States.' 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(1)(A)(iii). The AAO did not find-and the Government does not contend-that Gulen fails to meet this criterion. Based on his unchallenged statement that the visa he seeks 'will allow me to continue to advocate and promote interfaith dialogue and harmony between members of different faiths and religions,' A.R. at 1053, activities that are certainly a benefit to the United States in these times of tensions between adherents of different religions, we find no basis for denying his application on that basis," Paragraph E of the opinion stated.

Williams disputes the judge's ruling and says that Gulen's own speeches say the opposite.

"In his own speeches he says you can really infiltrate a secular government in a place like the United States and wreak all kinds of havoc. That's what he's been doing. Once again the schools are funded by us. They're at least 140 of them. He's been called the most dangerous Islamist in the world and very little light is being shed on him and his activities," Williams stated.

Elwart says the potential indoctrination is very subtle, even though he believes it's intentional.

"There is a certain amount of an Islamic-centered slant to their teaching. One place they really start bringing in the slant is through their after-school programs and what they call their outside programs," Elwart observed.

"For example, they'll have Turkish festivals and the kids can compete in making costumes, writings and the like. Many times the prize for these in these competitions is a cultural trip to Turkey," Elwart also said.

Elwart believes that the Gulen charter schools are going largely unnoticed by the American public.

"This is a problem with the charter school system; it's fragmented. There is not a lot of oversight on the schools so people are disconnected from one another. If they see something that isn't quite right at their school they don't have any place to go to to raise the alarm," Elwart asserted.

Elwart says the schools are established and then each school brings in teachers from Turkey using H1B visas. These are visas granted to people with math and science skills.

Listen to another interview with Williams:

"Most of the time these applications will say they need to bring in these teachers because of the lack of math and science teachers available locally. The teachers that do come in are Muslim and almost all of them are from Turkey," Elwart explained.

He explains that administrators are usually brought in on more temporary visas which explains the frequent turnover in the Gulen-connected schools.

The web site, Charter School Scandals, reports that the Pioneer Charter School for Science in Everett, Mass., is a Gulen School.

Pioneer Charter School of Science Public Relations Director Aimee Mott says that her school was started by a group of concerned parents.

"It was a community of really parents and other concerned members of the community who thought that in this area, Everett, Chelsea and Saugus area, that the public schools were not meeting all the needs of all the students," Mott stated.

"They decided to get together, submit a charter to the state for our school and that was in 2006. So, our first year in operation was in 2007 and 2008," Mott said.

Mott also says that the school's newness means it relies on taxpayer dollars.

"Because we are a new charter school, all of our funding at this point comes from the state. We are funded just like a public, we are a public school. We are a public charter school," Mott described. "We are working on applying for a grant to get some funding for some things."

Listen to an interview with Mott:

The school's web site gives few details on the school's curriculum, provides no list of faculty members and lists only the principal and the board members.

The Massachusetts Department of Education school directory lists the head of the school as Barish Icin, and also gives the members of the school's board of directors.

Among the board members listed are Board Chairman Murat Kilic, Mustafa Ozdemir, Nuh Gedik and Ramazan Nigdioglu. A name origins web site, HearNames.com, verifies that all of the surnames are of Turkish origin.

Nigdioglu is also connected to the Cambridge Ridge and Latin School where he is on record as recommending that the best students at the Latin School be rewarded with a trip to Turkey.

Williams says that Gulen's school network is well-funded, well-organized and well-represented.

"He has set up lobbying groups and through his lobbying groups he has given millions and millions of dollars to both Republicans and Democrats. He has gained their favor and support so his schools are rubber-stamped," Williams observed.

Williams warns Gulen's compound in the Poconos is much like the one in Islamburg, N.Y., that Williams says he's visited.

"I went up there to take a look at his fortress and it is a fortress in the heart of the Pocono Mountains. Hundreds of Turks live there. According to all the neighbors there are helicopters constantly surveilling the area looking for intruders," Williams described.

"There are sentry posts there and the neighbors have complained to the FBI about gunshots and explosions," Williams added. "They have a foreign militia on American soil. If this doesn't get people up in arms, I don't know what will."

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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7448570.html

A long line to learn

Harmony Academy charter system is booming, despite initial suspicions by parents and a lackluster economy

By JENNIFER RADCLIFFE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

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List of Gulen schools in Texas and surrounding areas:

Austin Gulen Organizations - (all office at 12400 Amherst Dr, Suite 108, Austin, Texas 78727):

- Raindrop Foundation (Austin, Texas) - Mehmet Okumus operates this location. 7 locations in Texas. I believe the main office is the Houston branch. Locations in AR, MS, NM, LA, KS and OK

- Institute for Interfaith Dialog (Austin Branch of Houston office) - Dr. Yetkin Yildirim (Vice President) and Dr. Guner Arslan is "Founding Member"

- Turkish American Women's Association (Austin, Texas)

- Austin-Antalya Sister City Committee - the Chair is Prof. Burhanettin Kuruscu (a professor of economics at University of Texas a Austin) and seems to be managed by Dr. Yetkin Yildirim

- WhirlingDervishes.org - evidently a site run by the Raindrop Foundation of Texas. I understand their performances are booked through Austin.

- Bluebonnet Learning Center of Austin. 3-5 year olds. Summer programs at Harmony School of Science.

- Harmony Science Academy of Austin, 930 E. Rundberg Lane, Austin, Texas 78753 (K through 8)

- Harmony School of Excellence of Austin.  2100 E. St. Elmo Rd. Austin, Texas 78744 (K through 8)

- Harmony School of Science, Austin. 11800 Stonehollow Drive, Austin, Texas 78758 (K through 8)

- Harmony Science Academy of North Austin, 1421 Wells Branch Pkwy, Pfluegerville, Texas 78660 (5 through 12)

(All of the "Harmony" schools have a website at http://hssaustin.org)

Houston Gulen organizations (most office at 9301 West Bellfort, Houston, Texas 77031):

- Cosmos Foundation, Houston - operates all Gulen-organized "Harmony" charter schools in Texas. Located in same office park at Bluebonnet Learning Center, Gulf Language School and Texas Gulf Institute. As of March, 2010 the President of Cosmos is "Oner Ulvi Celepcikay." http://www.harmonytx.org/

- Texas Turkish Chamber of Commerce, Houston - linked to Raindrop Foundation and TUSKON;

- Houston-Baku Sister City Committee (?) - linked to Raindrop Foundation which is listed as a 'Sponsor' on site;

- Gulen Institute, Houston - a venture between the University of Houston and the Institute for Interfaith Dialog; located at the UH Graduate College of Social Work, Houston;

- Houston-Istanbul Sister City Committee - President is M. Ruhi Ozgel (offices are located at 9301 W. Bellfort which also houses the Institute for Interfaith Dialog);

- Alumni of Turkey Trips (http://www.alumniofturkey.org/) - Houston? Evidently a new website created by Institute for Interfaith Dialog and Raindrop Foundation both of Houston.

- ISWEEEP - Annual Cosmos Foundation science fair in Houston. 

- Institute for Interfaith Dialog, Houston - President is Dr. Y. Alp Aslandogan (?)

- Turqouise Center, Houston - cultural center located at 9301 W. Bellfort with IID, Houston-Instanbul, Raindrop, etc.)

- StudyTurkish.org - based at Raindrop House, Houston. Affiliated with University of Houston;

- Houston Blue Mosque - (http://www.houstonbluemosque.org/) connected to "Citadel Foundation"(?). Islamic mosque offering daily prayers and religious events. Both operate at 9301 W. Bellfort;

- Azerbaijanian American Cultural Alliance, Houston - located at 9301 W. Bellfort.

- Turkic Fest, Houston. Annual Turkic "Cultures and Children's Festival" evidently organized by the Raindrop Turkish Houston of Houston;

- Turkish Cultural Center, Houston (?) - mentioned as being housed with Raindrop and Institute for Interfaith Dialog in 2007 Texas Monthly article. Now Turquoise Center?

- Bosniaks Cultural Community of Houston - organized by Miralem Turkic?

- Citadel Foundation, Houston - Islamic charity located at 9301 W. Bellfort (see: Houston Blue Mosque, supra).

- Turkmen Young Scholars Association (Houston?)

- Harmony Science Academy, Houston

- Harmony Science Academy of NW Houston

- Harmony School of Excellence, Houston

- Harmony School of Endeavor, Houston

- Harmony School of Ingenuity, Houston

- Harmony School of Innovation, Houston

- Harmony School of Science, Houston

(Besides the Harmony Schools in Austin and Houston, there are 14 other locations (for a total of 25, not including vocational and pre-school - 4 more than my last count in early '09) in Texas as listed on their website at http://www.harmonytx.org/schools/)

- Helix Design & Production (produces many of the Gulen websites in Houston). Located at 10700 Kingston Street, Houston, Texas 77099. Same address as Texas Turkish American Chamber of Commerce

- Rainbow Painting (http://www.rainbow-painting.com/index.html). Listed as "Rainbow Construction" on Cosmos Foundation 2006 IRS Form 990 - Cosmos paid over $2.3M that year for 'construction' services yet Rainbow Painting's website shows that it did no work in Houston until 2007. Operated from a single family residence at 12722 Ashford Meadow Drive, Houston, Texas 77082;

- Ege Construction Company of Turkey (Houston office) http://egeconstruction.org/;

- Atlas Construction Company of Turkey (Houston office) - provided construction services of over a $1M to Harmony Schools

- Karagan Law Firm, Houston. Small 2-5 person firm run by Yalcin Karagan who was licensed to practice in Texas in 2000. Although website indicates personal injury focus, did he handle labor certifications for Gulen H1B's? Received $178, 520 on 2006 Cosmos IRS Form 990 for legal work. 

Louisiana Gulen organizations (not a complete listing)

Atlas Foundation of Louisiana - locations in Baton Rouge and New Orleans (http://www.atlaslouisiana.org/)

Baton Rouge-Malatya, Turkey Sister City Committee

Gulen-affiliated Educational Institutions (not a complete listing):

Texas Gulf Institute (vocational, computer training) Houston, Texas  - located at http://www.tgicareer.com/

Gulf Language School (located with Texas Gulf Institute), Houston, Texas - http://www.gulfesl.org

Bluebonnet Learning Center, Houston, Texas (also locations in Dallas and El Paso). For children 3-5 years of age. Located in same office park as Texas Gulf Institute and Gulf Language School (?). http://www.bluebonnetlearningcenter.com

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Sent to Donna Garner by unnamed source:

List of Gulen charter schools can be found here:
http://www.charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com
 
Their main arteries are:
Magnolia Science Academy  (California)
Sonoran Science Academy   (Arizona)
Harmony Science Academy  (Texas)
Horizon Science Academy   (Ohio)

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com