Chicago Math and Science Academy

The Chicago Math and Science Academy (CMSA) is one of 25 charter schools operated by Concept Schools (and HERE).* In June 2010, the school fired a pregnant teacher who had received performance bonuses but who had been trying to organize a union. This started a series of very interesting events.

Read this chronology to learn about the progression of protests, the teachers’ alliances of community support, the school’s hiring of a “notoriously expensive union-busting law firm” (Q: With whose tax dollars? A: Yours), the teachers’ attempt to apply pressure to and embarrass their local Gulenist organization, the school’s consent to enter into negotiations, stalled progress, and protest demonstrations outside the work offices of CMSA board members. The school's lawyers are arguing that the school is a private entity, an argument which has now gone before the the National Labor Relations Board.

At the bottom of this post is a link to a video of CMSA students demonstrating their Turkish skills at the 2008 regional Turkish Olympiad held in Columbus (OH), as presented by Samanyolu, a Gulenist Turkish TV station. It has now been removed by the YouTube user who had posted it. With the increased attention given to the Gulen movement's charter schools, observers have noticed a pattern of web content being removed. The school's listing of Turkish activities used to be posted HERE.

A considerable amount of web content connected to these charter schools has been removed in the past several months that their Gulen movement connection has been increasingly exposed by bloggers and mainstream news sources.
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Teachers at a Chicago charter school are now subject to private-sector labor laws, rather than state laws governing public workers. The move could impact how public schools are run down the road.

The ruling, made by the National Labor Relations Board last month, said the Chicago Math and Science Academy is a “private entity” and therefore covered under the federal law governing the private sector.

The decision overrules a vote taken by teachers last year to form a union in accordance with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act. At the time, two-thirds of teachers at the school approved the union and it became official under state law...

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Charter School Fires Teacher Active in Union Organizing
Chicago Math and Science Academy Also Challenges Teachers’ Union Rights

The Chicago Math and Science Academy (CMSA), a public charter school, fired a highly regarded pregnant teacher who helped organize a union at the school in June. The firing occurred as the school also challenged its teachers’ right to form a union.

The teacher, Rhonda Hartwell, was eight months pregnant at the time of her firing and was forced to move up her scheduled delivery to ensure it occurred before her health insurance was cut off.

“It’s one thing for the school to fight the union’s legitimacy, but it’s quite another to retaliate against a union organizer who has been rewarded with performance bonuses and was pregnant. This is about as low as an anti-union administration can go,” said Kim Bobo, executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice.

Hartwell had just received a $1,500 performance bonus, and the school had renewed her contract in April, inviting her to come back to teach this fall. Attorneys for the union filed an unfair labor practice charge against the employer…

Two-thirds of the teaching staff—well over the majority required by law—signed union authorization cards to be represented by the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff (Chicago ACTS), an affiliate of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers. Chicago ACTS also represents teachers at eight other charter schools in Chicago.

Teachers and their supporters—which include local community groups, and religious, labor and political leaders—have vowed to fight what they say is a total disregard for the law by school officials…

The school cited budget reasons for terminating Hartwell, but she and her colleagues are not buying it. They assert that CMSA is hiring new teachers, and a few days before the union organized, CMSA offered all teachers a 5 percent pay raise…
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AUGUST 9, 2010: Article published in In These Times:  “Chicago Math and Science Academy: Great Academics, Ugly Unionbusting.” 
A top Chicago charter school has done great things for students, but won't recognize strong teacher support for a union...

Until last year, I only vaguely knew about the school because one of my choir members, who spoke highly of the school and its teachers, attended and graduated in its 2010 class, which had a college acceptance rate of 100 percent. But the school loomed larger when it moved from its original location to a spot about one block from my house.
Although I had been inside the school once, I had never met its leadership or teachers. Nor did I know much about its philosophy. I just knew it was doing a good job. The academy, as its website touts, is one of the top three charter schools in Chicago. It’s clearly doing something right for the students and their families. But there is some weirdness here…

What neither the Concept Schools nor the Chicago Math and Science Academy websites mention is that most of the leadership is part of something called the Gulen Movement. Despite my many years of interfaith work, I was not familiar with the Gulen Movement, although what I have read about it impresses me. But there is something weird about a charter school being so closely linked to a philosophy, the Gulen Movement, that isn’t even mentioned or referred to on its website.

When I went to the school’s board meeting on July 8, I was taken aback to see a board of directors comprised entirely of men. They all appeared of Turkish, Bosnian or Croatian descent. Although I have nothing against Turkish, Bosnian or Croatian men, it does seem that a school board serving students who are 58 percent Hispanic/Latino, 25 percent African American, 12 percent Asian and 5 percent white might be well served by some women board members and board members from ethnic backgrounds the school predominantly serves.

And now for what really worries me: In the winter of 2010, the teachers began to organize a union. They were concerned about staff turnover, which they believe is related to frustrations about having little input into decisions affecting their work and teaching. They were eager to help the school’s leadership grapple with issues around budgeting, staffing and turnover. The teachers believed that the best way for them to have the input they needed and affect the direction of the school was to organize a union.

So the teachers contacted Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff (Chicago ACTS), a local union of charter school teachers and staff members affiliated with the Illinois Federation of Teachers (AFT). Two-thirds of the teachers signed union authorization cards, clearly indicating strong teacher support for having a union.

On the afternoon of June 23, the teachers announced to Principal Ali Yilmaz that they were forming a union. But right before they marched into his office to deliver the message, Yilmaz, apparently tipped off about the event, fired Rhonda Hartwell…

Chicago Math and Science Academy has hired Seyfarth Shaw, a notoriously expensive union-busting law firm, to advise it in dealing with the union. Anyone who has experience in labor issues in Chicago knows the anti-union reputation of Seyfarth Shaw. It is sad that a school facing budget cuts would waste resources in hiring a law firm to help it fight having a union. But that is exactly what is happening…

…On July 29, Chicago Math and Science Academy filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board claiming it should be covered by the NLRB and not the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. This switch would mean that the school would not have to recognize the union, but would rather be able to insist on a board certified election. The principal told a community delegation I led on August 5 that he now believes the union wouldn’t have as many supporters with all the laid-off teachers. I’m sure he didn’t mean to imply that he laid off union supporters – but it sure sounded like it!

Compounding the ugly is the blatantly anti-union letter Yilmaz sent to parents. It is written in classic anti-union code – probably scripted by Seyfarth Shaw’s high-paid attorneys…
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AUGUST 2010: Teachers and parents videotaped their attempt to meet with the school’s leadership.
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NOVEMBER 1, 2010: The American teachers are aware of the Gulen Movement’s connection to their school. And so, with the Gulenist Niagara Foundation sponsoring a 2010 International Gulen Conference from November 11 to 13 in Chicago, they requested to meet with the Niagara Foundation’s leadership to express their concerns. They also sent letters to the conference’s participants informing them of the situation. Arise Chicago, an organization working with the teachers, distributes the link to an interview with Ali Yurtsever, a high-ranking Gulenist who is involved with both CMSA and the Niagara Foundation. http://arisechicago.org/press_releases/60/original/GulenYurtseverIntervfiew.pdf

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NOVEMBER 11, 2010: A demonstration at a dinner for conference participants being hosted by the Niagara Foundation was planned and then suspended when the Foundation “responded positively and affirmatively to what the union requested.”

Here’s the event notice
Join Arise Chicago, Chicago ACTS, and teachers from north-side Chicago Math and Science and Academy (CMSA) in taking action to recognize their union!
  • Today, Thursday, Nov. 11
  • 5:00 PM: Meet at Citizen Action Illinois, 27 E. Monroe, for pizza and to discuss the teachers’ situation.
  • 5:45 PM: Walk down one block to 76 E. Monroe (University Club of Chicago) to leaflet dinner guests (at a Niagara
    Foundation dinner – see below), hold a prayer vigil outside, and send a delegation inside with a letter requesting a meeting and action.
This is the press release about the suspension:

Subject: Community Pressure Success! Thurs. Teacher Action Suspended
Because of the work of Arise Chicago, Chicago ACTS, and all of you who pledged your support, the teachers at Chicago Math and Science Academy (CMSA) are on a path to resolving the conflict with the school.  Therefore, we are suspending tomorrow’s scheduled vigil aimed at the International Gulen Conference, sponsored by the Niagara Foundation.

Acknowledging the widespread community support, the Foundation has responded positively and affirmatively to what the union requested. Foundation leaders wrote a letter to the CMSA Board of Directors repudiating the school’s refusal to accept the NLRB ruling favoring union rights for teachers. But the letter went further and invoked Niagara Foundation's own principles of promoting dialogue, civic engagement, human dignity and workers’ rights. It cited these principles in embracing fully the right of CMSA teachers to unionize!

Foundation President Dr. Bulent Aydogan emphatically called on CMSA to:
  • Withdraw the NLRB appeal,
  • Recognize the teachers’ union,
  • Negotiate with teachers, community leaders and union leadership to resolve all outstanding issues.   
As a result, Concept Schools Inc., which operates CMSA, has agreed to meet with teachers, union and community leaders next week.  This is an exciting step toward victory for these teachers! It is the sustained support and solidarity of our community allies that makes such victories possible. Thank you to all who pledged to attend the vigil and support these courageous teachers!
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NOVEMBER 15, 2010: The teachers’ “success” was announced in Labor Notes, “Chicago Charter School Teachers, with Community Support, Draw Close to Winning Union.”
A highly regarded public charter school in Chicago has leveled a series of union-busting tactics at its teachers this fall—which has been met by a community-union partnership that’s fought back…

The school is run by Concept Schools, which operates 24 other charters in the Midwest. Concept Schools is a participant in the Gülen Movement, an international, interfaith educational movement of “understanding and respect” that comes from Turkey.

But considering the progressive politics of the area, and the supposed philosophy of the school, teachers and community members were disappointed when the teachers found neither understanding nor respect when it came to their decision to organize.

When the CMSA teachers decided to begin organizing, they contacted the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff. Chicago ACTS is a joint program of the Chicago Teachers Union and the state and national American Federation of Teachers. CMSA teachers and Chicago ACTS began meeting, often using nearby space at Arise Chicago, a local interfaith workers’ rights organization…

…When they approached the principal with a request to recognize their union, CMSA fired one of the lead organizing teachers (claiming budgetary reasons) and later filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board, arguing that the teachers should not be able to unionize because the school was not a public employer (even though the school’s own website lists CMSA as a “public charter school”).

The NLRB rejected CMSA’s claim, ruling that the school was clearly part of the public education system, meaning its teachers and staff are public employees, who have the right to unionize. Once the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board certified the union, Chicago ACTS would be able to begin collective bargaining. Or so it seemed.

School administrators filed an appeal, and community partners stepped up their support for the teachers.

When Chicago ACTS learned that the Gülen movement was having its international conference in Chicago, teachers began strategizing how to boost their campaign. The conference was being supported by several sponsors—including the Niagara Foundation, which supports the Gülen movement.

Chicago ACTS asked Arise Chicago to support a prayer vigil and action outside the conference’s opening event on November 11. Arise Chicago activated its network to turn out supporters…

Now, Concept Schools will meet with teachers and union and community leaders during the week of November 15. The vigil was called off, as the sustained support of community allies brought victory one step closer.
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FEBRUARY 11, 2011: Teachers are now holding protests in front of CMSA board members’ workplaces.



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FEBRUARY 14, 2011: Article published in People’s World, "'Stop breaking the law' protest tells Chicago charter school." 
CHICAGO - If Sulejman Dizdarevic were peeking out the window of his swanky law offices on Feb. 11, he surely would have been startled. There staring at him from the opposite side of the street, with bulging eyes, long nose and whiskers, chomping on a cigar and holding sacks of cash, was a giant, ugly rat.

The inflatable rat was erected by supporters of teachers at Chicago Mathematics and Science Academy in front of Dizdarevic's office, because he sits on the board of directors of the charter school that they accuse of subverting teacher's rights to form a union and violating Illinois labor law by refusing to negotiate a contract. Dizdarevic is an attorney at Belongia, Shapiro and Franklin.

"Regardless of the anti-union reasons motivating these charters, we are finding fear of transparency is the key issue," said James Thindwa, an organizer for Chicago ACTS, which is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers and now represents teachers at eight charter schools.

"In almost every case, we have discovered that schools have more money than they claim. Teachers at Civitas were told there was no money for a raise, but when an audit was done, $2.5 million was found lying around," said Thindwa…

"CMSA are saying this is a private school, not subject to state law," said Thindwa. "They walked away from the bargaining table despite the fact that this union is certified under state law. What CMSA is saying is they don't recognize the state."

Charter schools are covered under Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board and employees are required to get the support of 50 percent plus one to gain union recognition. CMSA refused to accept this and took their case to the National Labor Relations Board, claiming they were a private company not covered under the law…

Thindwa said every board member of CMSA would be targeted for pressure because they were personally responsible for the downward spiral the school finds itself in. They started with Dizdarevic; a delegation of community, clergy and academics delivered a letter to his office demanding management comply with state law.

"We told him we are not going away," said Martha Biondi, a professor at Northwestern University. "We are community members concerned about the right of teachers to organize a union, especially under the law of Illinois. It's outrageous that they are flouting the law of Illinois."…
 
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Tensions are heating up at a North Side charter school where teachers have formed a union. About two-thirds of the teachers and staff at the Chicago Math and Science Academy signed union cards last school year. Art teacher Kate Ostler, who’s taught at the school for three years, was among them. She said her hope is that a union will improve working conditions for teachers and learning for kids.

“I didn’t like the climate of the school every year when it came to going in there on my own to talk to a principal who it seemed was very hostile to any kind of improvements that I wanted in my working conditions—improvements that would certainly benefit the learning conditions of my kids,” said Ostler.

But Chicago Math and Science Academy has not recognized the teachers’ union.

At issue is whether a charter school is a public or private entity. The schools are publicly funded but privately run. Under state law covering public schools, the union is official. But the school wants to follow federal labor law governing private entities. That would force teachers to hold a vote on whether to unionize—and not all teachers are in support…

The little school’s pending case before the National Labor Relations Board is a big deal: The country’s two biggest teacher unions, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and Nevada’s attorney general have all filed briefs in the case.

A decision, which may not come for months, could help determine how union issues in other charter schools around the country are handled. 
 
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CHICAGO—The Chicago Math and Science Academy, a public charter school, has agreed to a $40,000 back-pay settlement to a highly regarded teacher who was fired in June after she helped organize a union at the school…

 “CMSA is adamantly opposed to the union organizing effort and used this teacher as a scapegoat. Its scheme to use an anti-union scare tactic backfired—CMSA teachers want a union more than ever to have a voice in working and learning conditions without fear of reprisal,” said Dan Montgomery, president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. “This case illustrates clearly just why having a union is so critical.”

Since the teachers filed for representation, CMSA has spent over $113,000 of taxpayers’ money in legal fees to fight the union…

The school continues to claim its teachers are private employees subject to the National Labor Relations Act. The National Labor Relations Board is expected to rule on the matter soon…
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List of board members appearing on the CMSA website on 11/9/2010
  • Yavuz Burak Canbolat - board president
  • [Dzafer] Jeff Kulenovic - secretary
  • Ali Yurtsever - board member
  • Murat Surucu - board member
  • Edip Bektas - treasurer
  • Hanefi Tiryaki - board member
  • Suleman F. Dizdarevic - board member

List of board members obtained from the school’s first Form 990 in 2003 (EIN 450532536)

  • Salim Ucan, principal
  • Clarissa Cerda, president
  • Taner Ertekin, secretary
  • Faruk Guder, treasurer
  • Leticia Herrera – member
  • Donald Jones – member
  • Ji Yong Lee – member
  • William C. McGaghie – member

Please note how the board made a transition from 3 out of 8 Turkish/Turkic board members in 2003 to 7 out of 7 in 2010. This pattern has been observed at other Gulen charter schools.

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Here are excerpts from messages sent to me from two different anonymous people:

Person #1:
…From what I can gather, the American teachers simply want to have an equal say and equal treatment.  I believe that they are tired of having to carry the educational burden of the Turkish staff.  Again I assume this is the case within other Gulen schools, the American teachers at CMSA are required to carry a full load while the Turkish staff are permitted to have fewer classes with fewer students.  The American teachers are further required to put in more hours, while the Turkish staff are permitted to leave or choose rather not to spend extra time with the students at school.  Lastly, the teachers are tired of having the administration dictate what is best in the classroom…

Person #2 (Re the teachers' November "victory")
Based on my experience with Gulenists, they [the teachers] are premature in declaring victory.  All the school has done is agreed to meet with them.

I have also attended meetings with Gulenists, so I know how they go.  They talk and talk.  At the end of it, they do what they wanted to do all along.

The Gulenists made this conciliatory gesture to avoid the embarrassment of the vigil in front of the conference, which would have been very damaging for them.  Having got what they needed, they won't want to concede any more.

The teachers are going to be very disappointed.

…Their entire modus operandi is based on abusing teachers.  I hope to be proved wrong, but my belief is that they will never give in on this one.

Instead, they will offer the teachers some meaningless concession, which they will then retract in a couple of months anyway…
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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good catch. I wonder if there's any awareness at all inside the CACT that this school is part of a larger Gulen network. -@tbfurman

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure CACT is well aware of the Gulen network related to CMSA.

The Perimeter Primate said...

Chicago Math and Sciences - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, 8/9/10, Gapers Block article by Kim Bobo of Interfaith Worker Justice

Excerpt:

"What neither the Concept Schools nor the Chicago Math and Science Academy websites mention is that most of the leadership is part of something called the Gulen Movement. Despite my many years of interfaith work, I was not familiar with the Gulen Movement, although what I have read about it impresses me. The American-born Chicago Math and Science Academy teachers first raised the Gulen philosophy with me and speak very highly of it and the immigrant teachers with whom they work. But there is something weird about a charter school being so closely linked to a philosophy, the Gulen Movement, that isn't even mentioned or referred to on its website.

When I went to the school's board meeting on July 8, I was taken aback to see a school board of directors, in this day and age, composed entirely of men. It appears that they are all of Turkish, Bosnian or Croatian descent. Although I have nothing against Turkish, Bosnian or Croatian men, it does seem that a school board serving students who are 58 percent Hispanic/Latino, 25 percent African American, 12 percent Asian and 5 percent white might be well served by some women board members and board members from ethnic backgrounds the school predominantly serves..."

and

"...The school's leadership is clearly not being very forthcoming about its priorities, values and connections. It should be honest about its association with the Gulen Movement and educate all of us more about its principles. This lack of transparency and openness is bad. But the union-busting and disrespect shown to its teachers in the process is downright ugly..."

http://gapersblock.com/mechanics/2010/08/09/chicago-math-and-sciences---the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

The Perimeter Primate said...

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6299/chicago_math_and_science_academy_great_academics_ugly_unionbusting/

Excerpts:

"What neither the Concept Schools nor the Chicago Math and Science Academy websites mention is that most of the leadership is part of something called the Gulen Movement. Despite my many years of interfaith work, I was not familiar with the Gulen Movement, although what I have read about it impresses me. But there is something weird about a charter school being so closely linked to a philosophy, the Gulen Movement, that isn’t even mentioned or referred to on its website."

and...

"Chicago Math and Science Academy has hired Seyfarth Shaw, a notoriously expensive union-busting law firm, to advise it in dealing with the union. Anyone who has experience in labor issues in Chicago knows the anti-union reputation of Seyfarth Shaw. It is sad that a school facing budget cuts would waste resources in hiring a law firm to help it fight having a union. But that is exactly what is happening."

and...

"The school’s leadership is clearly not being very forthcoming about its priorities and connection to the Gulen movement."

Guess what, Ms. Bobo? That's just the way they like it.

The Perimeter Primate said...

Adding to the above.

It is very likely that Ms. Bobo has only Googled "Gulen" to arrive upon the many sites created by his followers in praise of Fetullah Gulen Hocaefendi. They are propaganda experts.

One must scratch the surface a bit to discover alternative views about Gulen.

For instance, Ms. Bobo may wish to read "Does terrorism help Gülen’s Muslim missionaries? A first class revolution from the bottom up" by Aland Mizell at this site: http://kurdmedia.com/article.aspx?id=16439

As far as Gulen is concerned, it's not all about rainbows, baklava, and roses.

The Perimeter Primate said...

Videos of meetings with principal Ali Yilmaz are posted here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/UnionSummerChicago

The Perimeter Primate said...

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/40337.html

Support Charter School Teachers
Published by Arise Chicago on Nov 02, 2010
Category: Unions
Region: United States of America
Target: International Gulen Conference Presenters
Web site: http://www.arisechicago.org

Background (Preamble):
By a 67% majority, teachers at Rogers Park-based Chicago Math and Science and Academy (CMSA) voted to form a union on June 23, 2010. In response, CMSA administrators immediately retained expensive union-avoidance lawyers and fired Rhonda Hartwell, a teacher who led the organizing effort. Hartwell was 8 months pregnant at the time.

CMSA is a charter school. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rejected the administrators’ claim that it was a private school and reaffirmed the “public” character of charter schools. Administrators were ordered to recognize the union. Instead they chose to appeal the decision.

Petition:

We, the undersigned religious and community leaders, and educators, wish to share our concerns about an unresolved labor dispute between Chicago Math and Science Academy (CMSA) and its teachers, and request your intervention. As a scheduled presenter at the 2010 International Gulen Conference, you are uniquely positioned to help.

The Niagara Foundation, which will host the celebrated international conference in Chicago, has organizational and personnel ties to CMSA.

We ask you to urge the Niagara Foundation Advisory Board and Board of Trustees, CMSA Board of Directors, and Concept Schools Inc., to meet with CMSA teachers and concerned community and religious leaders to hear the teachers’ concerns and reach a resolution. Our interest is to ensure that CMSA recognizes the democratically expressed will of its teachers to form a union.

Background: On June 23, CMSA teachers voted by 67 percent to form a union. In response, school officials retained a union-avoidance law firm and fired Rhonda Hartwell, a teacher who led the organizing effort. Ms. Hartwell was eight-months pregnant at the time.

The lawyers went before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and claimed that CMSA is a “private employer.” But on September 20, the NLRB rejected the “private employer” claim and ordered CMSA to comply with state law. Unfortunately, CMSA is appealing the NLRB decision.

Clearly, CMSA’s actions collide with key tenets of the Niagara Foundation, namely, promoting civic engagement and championing societal peace, human dignity and common good. Furthermore, CMSA is in conflict with the values of its host community of Rogers Park, which is the most racially and ethnically diverse in Chicago, with a long history of championing labor and women’s rights, and racial and ethnic tolerance. The hard-line position the school has taken against basic union rights makes a mockery of the community’s values, conflicts with its mission as an academic institution, and undermines its long-term interests as a school.

We urge you, as a conference presenter, to weigh in on this critical issue. Please, contact the leadership of Niagara Foundation, CMSA, and Concept Schools and call on them to meet with CMSA teachers and community and religious leaders.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Please contact leaders of the aforementioned institutions and make your voice heard. (A contact list is attached for your convenience.)

The Perimeter Primate said...

HASAN ALI YURTSEVER HOLDS A VERY HIGH POSITION IN THE G.M. BROTHERHOOD. HE IS ON THE BOARD OF CHICAGO MATH AND SCIENCE ACADEMY, WHICH IS MANAGED BY CONCEPT SCHOOLS, INC.

Arise Chicago press release

http://arisechicago.org/press_releases/60/original/GulenYurtseverIntervfiew.pdf

A Discussion with Ali Yurtsever, Rumi Forum, November 23, 2007

What path as brought you to your current job, and how has it involved you in working with faithbased
organizations and international development?
The Gulen Movement began in Izmir, in 1966. When I was in primary school, Fethullah
Gulen, the Movement’s founder, was a preacher in the town where I lived, Edremit. My father
was a close friend of Gulen; they were the same age, and saw each other often. I was in primary
school and went to Friday prayers where I heard him preach; Gulen was at my house often, so I
came to know him well. When a hostel (dormitory) was started in Izmir, I was one of the early
students who lived there and I continued in this arrangement through middle and high school. I
attended state schools but we lived in the hostels and went to school each day in buses. At the
dormitories, we prayed together and learned values, through a religious and moral education.
I moved to Istanbul for university, and again lived in a Gulen dormitory – they were
called then (and now) light houses. They play a critical role, as the smallest unit (5-6 people) and
the place where core values are transmitted, through prayer, reading together, and talking. There
was no politics in the dormitories: we had no television and no newspapers. We focused on our
schooling and on moral values.
When I finished university, I became a teacher in a Gulen high school in Izmir (my
dormitory had grown into a high school). I had studied science and mathematics and became a
teacher of physics and computer science. I worked at the same time for my masters and PhD
degrees and when I finished, began to teach at the university in Istanbul. Fatih university in
Istanbul is one of seven Gulen universities in the world (the others are in Central Asia).
Through my education and associations with friends I was thus part of the Gulen
Movement from an early age. As a student, it gave me values; as a teacher, my job was to give, to transmit values..."



READ THE REST FOR AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE GULEN MOVEMENT

http://arisechicago.org/press_releases/60/original/GulenYurtseverIntervfiew.pdf

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From CMSA website on 11/9/2010

http://cmsaonline.net/newwebsite/?p=89

Yavuz Burak Canbolat - board president
[Dzafer] Jeff Kulenovic - secretary
Ali Yurtsever - board member
Murat Surucu - board member
Edip Bektas - treasurer
Hanefi Tiryaki - board member
Suleman F. Dizdarevic - board member


Contrast the above list with the board membership in 2004

Salim Ucan, principal
Clarissa Cerda, president
Taner Ertekin, secretary
Faruk Guder, treasurer
Leticia Herrera – member
Donald Jones – member
Ji Yong Lee – member
William C. McGaghie member

As with many other Gulen charter schools, probable non-Gulenist board members have been replaced over time by individuals who are Turkish/Turkic and Gulenist.

Anonymous said...

“Be so tolerant that your bosom becomes wide like the ocean. Become inspired with faith and love of human beings. Let there be no troubled souls to whom you do not offer a hand and about whom you remain unconcerned.” (Fethullah Gülen, Criteria or Lights of the Way. London: Truestar.)

Please visit the following links to get more information about Fethullah Gulen.
Fethullah Gulen
Fethullah Gulen Blog

Anonymous said...

I am an American teacher working at this school and have seen no evidence of the Gulen movement. The religion nor views are imposed on the staff or students. Honestly, I have worked for Noble and a private school in Chicago and have never seen a school, as organized and well-ran as CMSA. I am so happy I have decided to work at this school. The administration truly cares about the staff and students, its apparent. Yes, every school has its problems, but a lot of what this blog suggests are bias opinions without concrete evidence, basically I recommend readers to consider the source!