Dove Science Academy - Tulsa



SOME TEACHERS' SALARIES NOT MEETING STATE STANDARD, September 27, 2010, Tulsa World (OK)
Because public charter schools are exempt from the state minimum salary schedule, some local teachers earn thousands of dollars less than their counterparts teaching in traditional districts.

Each year, the Oklahoma State Department of Education produces a minimum salary guideline for public school teachers. The guideline increases teachers' salaries as their teaching experience and education increase…

Some local public charter schools, however, do not meet the minimum because of budget problems, administrators said.

Kaan Camuz, the superintendent of Discovery School of Tulsa and Dove Science academies in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, said the schools negotiate contracts with each teacher individually.

Education Department data show that often, the schools' pay does not meet the state's minimum salary standards.

"We would like to pay even more to our teachers, but with the budget cuts, we have to wait," Camuz said.

According to the state's database, at least 17 teachers at Discovery and Dove are paid less than the state's minimum.

One second-year teacher with a bachelor's degree at Dove Science Academy, for example, earns a total of $27,300 - or about $4,600 less than the state's minimum salary schedule for a person with a degree and one year of experience.

Camuz, who earned $75,000, said the schools usually pay more to math and science teachers because the schools emphasize those subjects. The state data, however, show that teachers of other subjects sometimes get as much, if not more, than math and science teachers…
NOTE: The above news story is an example of teacher salary practices which have been reported at other Gulen charter schools. A former teacher at one of the NJ charter schools wrote: “The school had my credentials and previous salaries, promised the same, and then undercut the salaries of anyone who was not Turkish.” AND “Teachers without credentials were teaching and earning higher salaries than fully certified teachers. Friends of the "Gulen Movement" just happened to "pop" in off the plane and given teaching jobs--some who couldn't even explain correctly in English a concise sentence.” http://www.charterschoolwatchdog.com/and-the-plot-thickens.html
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A Tulsa teenager pleaded guilty Monday to raping an 11-year-old student at a Tulsa school.

Donnie D. Johnson, 18, is to be sentenced July 19.

Tulsa County District Judge William Kellough ordered Johnson, who had been free on bond, placed in the Tulsa Jail after his guilty plea.

A Department of Corrections background report will be prepared before his sentencing. Johnson has no agreement with prosecutors concerning his punishment.

Assistant District Attorney Jack Thorp said he will request prison time.

Johnson, who was then 17, was charged in December 2008 with the first-degree rape of a sixth-grade student by force and violence at Dove Science Academy, 280 S. Memorial Drive.

Johnson, who was a high school student, and the girl both attended the Dove charter school.

Johnson is alleged to have raped the girl in a school rest-room on Dec. 11, 2008. He was arrested that day…

The girl told police that “an older boy named Donnie” followed her into the restroom, pulled his pants down, pulled her pants down, and raped her on the floor, reports indicate.

A civil lawsuit was filed last year in Tulsa County District Court on behalf of the girl and her mother against Dove Science Academy Foundation-Tulsa Inc., records show.

A $100,000 settlement was reached, with the plaintiffs’ law firm getting $40,000 in compensation for its services.

A judge approved a payment of $5,000 to the girl’s mother and an investment of $55,000 in an annuity on the girl’s behalf, records show.
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Citing concerns about services for special education students and the legality of consequences for certain behavior infractions, the Tulsa school board voted unanimously Monday to end its sponsorship of Dove Science Academy, one of the city’s longest-operating charter schools...

The school board’s charter school committee had recommended that Dove Science Academy’s request for a five-year contract renewal be denied.

Board member Ruth Ann Fate, who serves as the committee chairwoman, questioned the school’s special education and disciplinary practices and claimed that the school has failed to comply with a laundry list of terms in its contract with TPS.

“The documentation submitted by Dove regarding its special education services and programs demonstrates substantive compliance problems in the IEPs (individualized education programs) developed. … This strongly suggests that Dove is plugging all special-needs students into one system rather than making individualized decisions,” Fate said, reading from a prepared statement.

She also cited “myriad deficiencies” in Dove’s student discipline handbook, including expulsion as a consequence and the withholding of student records in certain disciplinary cases, both of which are not allowed under Oklahoma law...

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TPS QUESTIONS ACADEMY'S APPLICATIONS, July 21, 2005, The Tulsa World (OK)
Tulsa Public Schools will review the enrollment practices at a charter school that has been asking applicants for information about their academic and discipline records.

A Tulsa World review of charter school applications found that Dove Science Academy asks if potential students have ever been suspended from any school, if they ever skipped or repeated a grade, and to list their honors, awards, clubs and activities.

Gary Lytal, assistant to the superintendent for school and district accountability, said the questions are improper because charter schools are "open enrollment" schools that must admit students regardless of past discipline or academic issues.

"To me, they should not be asking those questions. I think they use a random drawing, so there would be no reason to ask those questions," Lytal said.

State Superintendent Sandy Garrett also said charter schools cannot consider such information in admitting students under Oklahoma law.

"Our charter schools in Oklahoma are public schools. Some have certain themes but none are allowed to discriminate," Garrett said.

Assistant Superintendent LaVerne Ford Wimberly said she will seek a review of Dove Science Academy's enrollment practices.

"I expect them to enroll (students) based on space available -- first come, first serve. There should not be any discriminatory practice on the part of our charter schools," Wimberly said. "I will be asking for a review to determine whether the questions are being used for the excluding of students. If they are, I will have to make some recommendations to the principal, Mr. Yuksel."

Dove Science Academy served about 410 students in grades 6-12 last year. It was one of the first charter schools to open after the passage of the Oklahoma Charter School Act in 1999.

It is located in a former church building at 280 S. Memorial Drive.

Dove Principal Zekeriya Yuksel is currently out of the country, so the principal of its affiliated charter school in Oklahoma City, also called Dove Science Academy, responded to questions about the application.

Mustafa Dove, whose name was also listed as Mustafa Guvercin on his school's Web site, said the Tulsa school has used the same application since it opened. [guvercin translates to n. pigeon, dove]

"If they are objecting, that is not a problem for us to withdraw (the questions) from the application. That's not that big of a deal," Dove said.

He said the school has always drawn more applicants than it has had openings, so it has had to conduct a lottery to enroll students every year.

"Admission to the school is not on these issues, because there is a lottery at the end of the application deadline," Dove said.

Dove said the school does conduct interviews with potential students and their parents when they apply.

"We have an interview process. We explain our expectations, if they are suspended, even if they are not -- we go through our rules - - and explain our expectations to see if their expectations match with ours," he said.

Dove also answered questions about a statement in the student handbook that reads, "Any student suspended during the school year may be denied registration to Dove Science Academy the following year."

Lytal said a suspension should have no bearing on a student's enrollment in an open enrollment school once they have fulfilled the term of the suspension.

Of the statement in the handbook, Dove said: "This is here for encouragement for the students and to motivate them not to break the rules. In five years, there is no one we can recall who we didn't accept just because of this reason.

"We are not trying to expel students; we are here to educate students. We are being successful. We have lots of success," he added.

In April 2001, some Tulsa school board members said they were concerned that Dove and Deborah Brown Community School, the only two charter schools in existence in Tulsa at the time, were limiting their admissions and rejecting students with disciplinary problems.

Tulsa Superintendent David Sawyer said then that he had received several reports of Dove students being asked to withdraw from the school and return to their home public schools to avoid suspensions.

He urged Dove administrators to "seriously review" their policy.

A recent Tulsa World review shows that the other two Tulsa charter schools' applications are similar to the Tulsa Public Schools' enrollment form.

The Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences and Deborah Brown Community School ask applicants for information including their name, birth date, parent or guardian names, contact information and last school attended.
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Three organizations are listed:
1. Dove Science Academy (note different address on web form), Location: Tulsa, Ok 74112
2. Dove Science Academy – Oklahoma City, Location: Oklahoma City, OK 73106
3. Dove Science Academy, Location: Oklahoma City, OK 73106 (The figures for #3 are identical to #1)

1. Dove Science Academy (note different address on web form below)

Company Name
Dove Science Academy
NAICS Industry
Educational Services
Economic Sector
Educational Services
Most Popular H1B Visa Address
919 NW 23rd Street Oklahoma City, OK 73106
Busiest H1B Visa Contact
Mustafa Guvercin, Principal*
Sponsor Rank
1,778
H1B Visa 2009
37
H1B Visa Salary 2009
$36,259
Green Card 2009
-
Green Card Salary 2009
-
H1B Visa 2001 - 2010
185
H1B Denied 2001-2010
3
PERM Total 2005-2010
22
PERM Denied 2005-2010
9
PERM Withdrawn 2005-2008
-
Green Card 2000 - 2010
41
Total Visa Petitions
226


Green Card applications
  • 2001-0
  • 2002-0
  • 2003-18
  • 2004-1
  • 2005-8
  • 2006-12
  • 2007-1
  • 2008-1
  • 2009-0

H1B Visa applications
  • 2001-11
  • 2002-6
  • 2003-8
  • 2004-19
  • 2005-8
  • 2006-45
  • 2007-31
  • 2008-20
  • 2009-37


2. Dove Science Academy – Oklahoma City

Company Name
Dove Science Academy - Oklahoma City
NAICS Industry

Economic Sector

Most Popular H1B Visa Address
919 NW 23th Street Oklahoma City, OK 73106
Busiest H1B Visa Contact
Mustafa Guvercin, Principal
Sponsor Rank
8,224
H1B Visa 2009
26
H1B Visa Salary 2009
$35,045
Green Card 2009
-
Green Card Salary 2009
-
H1B Visa 2001 - 2010
48
H1B Denied 2001-2010
-
PERM Total 2005-2010

PERM Denied 2005-2010
-
PERM Withdrawn 2005-2008
-
Green Card 2000 - 2010
-
Total Visa Petitions
48

Green Card applications
  • none

H1B Visa applications
  • 2001-0
  • 2002-0
  • 2003-0
  • 2004-0
  • 2005-2
  • 2006-3
  • 2007-1
  • 2008-16
  • 2009-26

* In addition to being the principal of Dove Science Academy in Oklahoma City, Mustafa Guvercin also worked at other southern-state Gulen missionary schools. In 2007 and 2008, he is recorded as the C.E.O. of Abramson Science and Technology Charter School in New Orleans. In 2009, Guvercin is described as the Harmony Schools Cluster Superintendent in Austin. In 2010, he is described as Executive Director on a summer program brochure for Bluebonnet Learning Center in Houston (in which there is "no registration fee for Harmony and SST students").

Evidence of the affiliation between the Gulen Movement and the Dove Science Academy is found HERE. 

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I worked for Dove Science Academy Tulsa for 8 years. No other school that I know of has given the students the dedication, time and resources compared to Dove.
Public schools cannot attain the success because they are too big and the teachers won't give time they are not paid for.
How about writing about all the successes for a change instead of waging war against a good educational facility!

Anonymous said...

My children have attended DSA and DST and I know it has some problems it needs to work on but they put alot of effort into these kids education and make sure they succeed. I am very proud of the school.

Anonymous said...

It is always nice to hear positive comments from parents. However, as a teacher at DSA I want to scream every time I read one! Parents really have no idea what is going on behind the closed doors of these institutions!These institutions really need to be closed. I don't say that because these schools are run by Turkish business men, or because of the fact that the administrators are muslim. I say this because these schools are only a front for the FGC. Parents please educate yourselves regarding the Gulen schools. Your children may have amazing teachers, but that has nothing to do with the organization that the teachers are working for. The teachers are overcoming great odds to educate your children in spite of the "Gulen" community, not because of them....

Jorli said...

What exactly is "going on behind the closed doors" of the school? I keep reading about how insidious these charter schools are, but I can't find clear examples of what evil things they are doing. Is there no former teacher or student who can speak to this? I'm looking for information and not taking sides. Where is the information?

Anonymous said...

I work at DSA-OKC~ I can see no evidence of an evil things. I do know that many of our teachers work a minimum of 50 hours a week in order to educate our students. We take students at many levels, ranging from far bellow average to advanced. Our goal is to take each student to the next level. Just looking at our math department, we have many students that go from "Limited Knowledge" to "Advance" on state tests. This is because our teachers are willing to work after school and Saturdays with small groups of students to reinforce math concepts that were missed in elementary school. We get students that do not know the difference between an noun and a verb, but by high school are annotating great novels in literature. Our teachers, from near and far, are willing to do what it takes, because in the end it is a smile from a senior who made it, as the first in their family, that is much better than a paycheck.

Anonymous said...

I am so embarrass!!! Whoever is complaining, sound like a crybaby. Have your child ever went to one of these Gulen Charter school you are complaining about?

My child has attended DSA going on 3 yrs and I am offended that you would act as if the children that goes to DSA is not truly making their grades. What?? How can you say that? Have you ever had an undercover person come in and monitor one of these charter schools. So far all I hear you telling me is "he say, she say stuff"!!

One of the biggest reason why I love DSA is b/c the majority are minorities in society and doing and excellent job, thanks to the excellent teachers. Why are you trying to rob these children of that?? Just because the over-all people running these school are Turkish??? Seriously??? Oh, don't try to tell me that is not the reason, I am grown..

I never knew nothing about Turkish or the people. My daughter has learned at DSA that it is OK to get to no someone that is of different ethnics, their culture, tradition. Understanding that we have things in life that makes us different, but we still have a lot of similarities. I expect this kind of charter school would demonstrate that...they are Turkish, what culture do you insist on them teaching???? They think, do, act, talk, like what they are, that's call been true to who you are, right?? Shaking my head!!

So far the only thing I am happy about that I took your advice read the information before I commented and realize you have no ammo to go on, so you throw jabs and hope one big punch land,that will hurt the integrity of these schools.

Keep working on it!!! But for now, your reasoning has not change my mind in anyway. Keep trying!!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like another Islamophobic website to me. Muslims working hard to educate children and this website is slamming them. Shame on you for spreading hate.

Anonymous said...

Yah islamophobic is definetly the case. I GO to DSA-OKC and I can assure you there is NO inside business here. I believe some of the teachers work really hard to teach us But also some aren't very good teachers But none are trying to bomb us or rape us or kill us. They have a very good policy and most of the kids are Hispanic anyways, I Am. Yes It has been hard going here But I have gotten smarter and have learned a lot. The kids who hate are just too cool to learn or just don't like to learn, I Am one of those people

la chica nena said...

What ever. I go to dsa okc y there is nooooo inside business yah teachers don't get paid much its always been like that my dad has worked at a place for 7 years and is manager only brings home $300 a week.

The Perimeter Primate said...

Anonymous above wrote: "...The kids who hate are just too cool to learn or just don't like to learn, I Am one of those people"

Huh?

The Perimeter Primate said...

More about the two comment entries made on February 12th.

Two different people claiming to be DSA-OKC students each left a comment on the evening of 2/12/2012. But the fact is that I only had one visitor from an Oklahoma IP to my website that day.

February 12, 2012 10:18 PM
IP: 68.227.118.117 (ip68-227-118-117.ok.ok.cox.net)
Linux
Oklahoma City, OK, United States

Anonymous said...

As a parent of a DSA graduate,2006, I would like to offer my 'two cents' as it were. Yes there were some minimal problems as with any school. The most difficult problems I had seen were primarily discipline issues with unruly middle school children and the ability of a person with a degree in physics etc to teach those said children without an education degree. In high school the scenario was quite different. With very small classes, my child had an excellent education and a great deal of involvement from teachers during and after school. How many schools do you know where the teachers seek out the parents to help form a relationship between parent/teacher/student? There was never a problem with conferences as the teachers actively sought the parents participation. As far as content of classes/religious training etc.. NO religious classes were offered at the school. Not once was my child given any suggestion that they should follow any religion. There was a cultural class where students learned about people of all walks of life and I sat in on that class many days. It was informative, and never swayed into an emphasis on any religion. There was instruction on manners, integrity, honesty etc. My child was interested in programming so a teacher took his own time in working with my son to teach him. He now is successful in that field and thriving because of an opportunity he was given by an unselfish teacher who cared about students. I have two other children who graduated/are graduating from a TPS school. With 60 students in a higher level math class and absolutely NO discipline in the school I wish now that I had put them in DSA. As a parent, you have to weigh the options carefully with education, and I am very pleased with the option to have my son at DSA.

The Perimeter Primate said...

I've noticed that pro-Gulen charter school comments almost always (or even always!) NEVER address an awareness of the Gulen movement issue, as if it doesn't exist. That topic -- which happens to be the dominant point I am trying to make here -- is totally ignored in the responses.

Anonymous said...

I have worked at Dove Science Academy, Oklahoma City as a teacher for more than 3 years; I have worked in schools in other states and universities, so I know the other places, therefore I can tell their differences. I can tell and assure you that there is no religion or anything wrong being taught there. Things different are that they are having folklore dance, language class, family visits, after school tutoring, science fair competitions, outdoor activities such as amusement parks, go cards, picnics, camp outs…. As far as I know, all teachers are doing their best to teach their subject. This is what I have seen and witnessed over the years working there. Now if someone is trying to tell me that this is not true, I would just say that go work there and see for yourself instead of posting negative things on the internet.

Unknown said...

This website sounds like it is maintained by a diehard NEA goon. Everything listed as "scandalous" as far as administration sounds like a sensible way to run a school. Expelling a student for behaviour? Asking about discipline on applications? Almost sounds like they want to keep students safe and minimize disruption of learning.