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Monday, May 6, 2019

SomeDamPoet Explains the Mysterious Gulen Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

SomeDamPoet Explains the Mysterious Gulen Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

SomeDamPoet Explains the Mysterious Gulen Schools



One of the abiding mysteries of charter world is the Gulen charter chain. The schools use different names, like Harmony or Magnolia or Sonoran, but they have certain characteristics in common. The board is dominated by Turkish me. Many of the teachers are Turkish, in the US on visas. The schools teach the Turkish language. But when asked if they are Gulen schools, the head of the school (usually Turkish) insists they are not.
Recently the state of Alabama approved a Gulen charter to open in a rural county, despite intense local opposition. The new principal was identified only as “Amy O.” The CEO, Soner Tarim,  is Turkish. He previously was CEO of a Gulen charter in Texas. But he insists that the new charter, Woodland Prep, is not a Gulen School. Neither was the previous one. Imam Fethullah Gulen lives in seclusion in the Poconos.
Our blog poet wrote:
The Shadow Knows”
The Shadow knows ’bout Amy O’s
Turkish cults in Turkish clothes
The Shadow knows ’bout Gulen schools
Gulen books and Gulen rules
The Shadow knows ’bout Gulen money
Gulen milk and Gulen honey
We don’t know, but The Shadow knows
‘Bout exiled Turks in the Poconos