gulen

General info on a network of schools connected to the Gulen Movement. [|Here's a link] to some extensive research about this network, which has over 120 schools in 25 states and is rapidly expanding. See also here.

List of schools in this network covered here: include component="pageList" hideInternal="true" tag="gulen" limit="10"

The Harmony Public Schools in Texas, which are part of this network, are the subject of an investigation initiated by the Texas legislature: cbsdfw.com June 29, 2011 News article: "Texas Legislature To Launch Investigation Of Charter Schools" @http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/06/29/texas-legislature-to-launch-investigation-of-charter-schools/

Concerns about the Gulen Movement's involvement in charter schools have so far focused on the following:
 * the schools contracting extensively to businesses in their network (related-party transactions; conflicts of interest); (click here)
 * extensive use of H-1B visas to hire foreign teachers at a time when many qualified US teachers are out of work; (click here)
 * some of the schools are the subject of a federal investigation into possible kickbacks; (click here)
 * lack of transparency;
 * The Movement is very controversial in Turkey, Europe, and now increasingly in the US.

Newspaper articles on the connection of the network of charter schools to the Gulen Movement:

June 6, 2011 New York Times Charter Schools Tied to Turkey Grow in Texas @http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/education/07charter.html Excerpt: "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."

May 24, 2011 The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City OK Dove Science Academy, Cosmos Foundation (Harmony Public Schools) Oklahoma charter schools hire math, science teachers from overseas Excerpt: "The officials say the schools are not connected or associated with a broader movement. Social scientists who have studied the movement, say the schools are part of a broader international movement that has millions of followers and is based on the teachings of peace and interfaith respect preached by Fethullah Gulen, an elderly Islamic Turkish scholar."

January 21, 2011 PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly The Gulen Movement @http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/january-21-2011/the-glen-movement/7949/ Excerpt: "MARTIN: I think the Harmony schools are an outstanding example of what the Gülen followers have been able to accomplish in particular with respect to education." (The individual quoted is William Martin of the Baker Institute at Rice University.)

November 10, 2010 The New Republic Harmony Public Schools, Texas; other Gulen charter schools The Global Imam: What does the leader of the world’s most influential Islamic movement really want? Excerpt: "I asked to see a Gülen-affiliated charter school and was brought to the Harmony Science Academy, a K-12 school and one of 33 charter schools operated across Texas by a group called the Cosmos Foundation."

August 1, 2010 Texas Monthly Harmony Science Academy, Houston TX "Head of the class"