Friday, June 4, 2010

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: Gulen Movement concerns

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: Gulen Movement concerns

Sonoran Science Academy - Tucson

In December 2009, concerns arose about this charter school having possible links to Turkish nationalism and the Gülen Movement. The nearly 90 schools associated with this movement have appeared in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New , Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.
The Sonoran Science Academy (SSA) - Tucson is operated by the Daisy Educational Corporation, a non-profit which operates one daycare (Daisy Early Learning Academy in Tucson) and five other charter schools in Arizona: SSA-Phoenix, SSA-Broadway campus (Tucson), SSA-Ahwatukee (a Phoenix neighborhood), SSA-Davis Monthan, and Paragon Science Academy (Chandler, a Phoenix suburb).
The SSA-Davis Monthan school is the first charter school to be opened on a U.S. Air Force base and is on the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near

Beehive Science & Technology Academy

Local concerns arose about this charter school having possible links to Turkish nationalism and the Gülen Movement. The nearly 90 schoolsassociated with this movement have appeared in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New , Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.
When Principal Muhammet "Frank" Erdogan stocked the school library shelves, he agonized over whether to include the Koran alongside the Bible and other religious texts.
"I don't have the luxury to make a mistake here. I have to be careful all the time," Erdogan said of his by-the-book efforts to build Beehive