For the
first time in four years, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission on Thursday
night began the process of closing city charter schools.
The
commission voted to put three schools on notice that their five-year operating
charters would not be renewed: Truebright
Science Academy,
Arise Academy, and Hope...
The schools
will remain open for the 2012-13 academic year...
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...[Bekir
Duz, CEO of Truebright] told the Notebook that his school plans to appeal to
the state. Schools can stay open during the appeals process.
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Truebright
Science Academy Charter School in North Philadelphia is one of more than 130
charter schools nationwide run by followers of the Turkish imam M. Fetullah
Gulen, and federal officials have put it under a microscope.
Not only
are the FBI and the Departments of Labor and Education looking into allegations
of kickbacks by Turkish teachers at the charters nationwide, according to
knowledgeable sources, but at least nine American teachers and administrators
at Truebright have filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission. All allege that they were being paid less than noncertified Turkish
staffers.
Now the Philadelphia School District's charter office has
recommended to the School Reform Commission that it not renew Truebright's
five-year operating charter on several grounds, including academic performance,
lack of certified staff, and high turnover of administrators...
The charter
school office report does not mention Gulen or note that a third of
Truebright's teachers and administrators are from Turkey. Most are working in this
country with non-immigrant visas.
Some
parents say their children cannot understand their Turkish teachers because
their English language skills are deficient. And staffers say the school's
operations are shrouded in secrecy, and they risk losing their jobs if they ask
too many questions. After The Inquirer reported about federal investigations
last year, staffers reported that school officials had shredded documents...
The Rev.
James W. Wright Sr., president of Truebright's parent teachers association,
said he was embarrassed to learn a statement that school officials persuaded
him to read at a recent SRC meeting erroneously claimed that 97 percent of the
first senior class had graduated last June. In reality, only 33 of the 50
students who started in ninth grade stayed and received diplomas, according to
a former administrator...
In a recent
interview, [CEO Bekir Duz] insisted that Truebright was not part of any Turkish
network and did not believe it was being investigated. "Truebright is a
school that is run independently," Duz said.
He said the
fact that 10 of the school's 32 teachers and administrators are from Turkey and have worked at similar charters
across the United States
does not mean the schools are linked...
He declined
to comment on Gulen, a major Islamic political figure in Turkey who lives
in self-imposed exile in a Poconos enclave.
In 2008,
Gulen obtained a green card by convincing a federal judge in Philadelphia
that he was an influential educational figure in the United States and pointed to the
charter schools that have been opened across the country by his followers -
Turkish scientists, engineers, and businessmen.
Duz said
that he didn't want to discuss Gulen because "I'm a public school employee
here, and I run this school solely by the charter-school law."
However, in
a 2006 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article about a proposed Turkish cultural center
in Allegheny County, he talked about Gulen. Duz, who
was on the center's board at the time, said members followed the teachings of
Gulen, who founded a movement emphasizing education and interfaith dialogue...
Copies of
photographs showing shredded documents and a Turkish staffer holding a ladder
while another man removed the camera were obtained by The Inquirer...
Truebright
was in turmoil in early 2011 when Riza Ulker, the school's founding CEO,
disappeared after the Christmas holidays. Board meeting minutes say that Ulker
requested a leave to deal with family issues. Current and former staffers
believe he returned to Turkey.
Tansu Cidav
arrived at Truebright from a Gulen charter in Austin, Texas,
to serve as interim head. Truebright's board subsequently hired Duz in August
to be permanent CEO. Duz had been a top administrator at Central
Jersey College
Prep Charter
School in Somerset, another charter run by Gulen
followers...
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REST!
