It always boggles my mind, but never surprises me, when a United States' politician drinks from the Gulenists' pitcher of Kool-Aid, oblivious to its ingredients of corruption, fraud, misuse of US tax payer funds, discriminatory practices, and a bevy of other criminal activities.
In this particular case, the drinker was Pennsylvania State Representative Margo Davidson, a staunch supporter of the Gulen-inspired United States' Pennsylvania based charter schools (funded by US tax payers).
Davidson was so concerned about her Turkish constituents that she made a " mercy mission" to Greece on behalf of the Turks to see how the Turkish Gulenists were being taken care of following their retreat from Turkey following their failed coup attempt to oust Turkish President Erdogan.
Davidson looks so worried in Greece that she is photographed standing in front of Greek ruins smiling ear to ear -- like a tourist instead of an anxious advocate seeking out the conditions of the exiled Gulenists.
Have to wonder who paid for the trip? Did Davidson pay for her own expenses, and if not -- who did?
Journalist Agnes Lawless Bedard of the The Upper Darby Sentinel News, has been following the associated shenanigans of Davidson and the Gulenist -inspired school, Vision Academy Charter School, and has written several articles regarding the connection.
Below is an article written by Agnes Lawless Bedard and published on April 17, 2018 in The Upper Darby Sentinel News.
https://theupperdarbysentinelnews.com/2018/04/17/muslim-based-gulen-movement-tied-to-william-penn-sd-vision-academy-charter-school/
It's worth visiting Ms. Bedard's articles just to see how happy Davidson looks in all of her Gulenist- related photos.
September 2015 the William Penn School District opened the doors to the first charter school in Delaware County. The ribbon cutting ceremony for Vision Academy Charter School was attended by Pennsylvania State Representative Margo Davidson, (D-164), Yeadon Mayor Rohan Hepkins, the only mayor to attend out of 48 boroughs, but the event was short on elected representatives. Those in attendance were not told the whole truth about the charter school. Vision Academy is a Gulen Movement school with its CEO and principal having organized other Gulen school that the FBI is now investigating.
Representative Davidson’s support for the school has not changed even with the knowledge that Adem Oksuz, principal and CEO of Vision Academy has moved from school to school, state to state creating Gulen schools only to have the schools investigated or closed due to financial irregularities, abuse of the H1B Visa program and failing the students with a subpar education. Davidson stated at the opening that “I know some folks are going to beat me up for supporting,” she said as she gave remarks to the crowd. “But I still say every child has the right to education, regardless of their zip code. We cannot continue to [let] children that live in poverty have only one option.”
Adem Oksuz, is the registered CEO of Vision Academy. The filing with the Federal Department of Education, lists Oksuz’s accomplishments as being the supervisor of the Daisy Education Corporation (charter holder of Gulen charter schools in Arizona including Sonoran Science Academy) and the Superintendent of Sonoran Science Academy. The picture is not what it would seem. In fact, Oksuz had been involved in more than 4 different Gulen schools in various capabilities’.
In Arizona, the charter schools related to the Gulen movement included, Sonoran schools, which Oksuz was involved with. According to an audit of the schools, it was found that there was a lack of compliance in the filing of financial information, of incorrect overbillings for school lunches for the federal program, improper record keeping of student’s attendance, and the misuse of the H1-B Visa Program where the schools brought 358 teachers from Turkey to teach at the schools between 2001 and 2016. The practice of spending funds on H1-B Visas has become so rampant in Gulen schools it costs American taxpayers $8.7 million.
In 2015, two Arizona Members of Congress, U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva and U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego called for hearings into the Sonoran network of schools. An investigation found that the H1-B employees were forced to give back 40% of their paychecks to the Gulen Movement.
The Gulen Movement school has been accused of running the organization like an illegal enterprise like the Mafia. There are multiple companies that overlap with the schools. Oksuz has been listed in various businesses with ties to Gulen as a consultant or as CEO but then he shifts from those positions to a school position. For example, the educational vendor for Gulen schools is Apple Education Service, which is also, according to records, Oksuz either owned or was the Regional Director for the East Coast. While at “Apple”, Oksuz applied for but was denied applications for 2 other charter schools, one in Hawaii and the other in Lancaster while he was also working in the Arizona charter schools.
The overlap of services is what the FBI and other government agencies look at for racketeering charges, according to a retired FBI agent who asked not to be named. One senior State Department official said Gulen schools and charities in America “look a lot like the ways in which organized crime sets itself up…to hide money for money laundering.” In 2017, Yale Education Studies published a research study of Gulen schools. After studying how the schools are set up, the faculty, financial reports and investigations by government agencies, their conclusion was “While schools disassociate themselves from Gulen himself, many administration officials in his charter schools are connected to him and his religious-political cult. Numerous Gulen schools across the country are under investigation by the FBI, the Department of Education, and/or the Department of Labor.”
Continuing the study written by Edgar Aviña, Shoshana Davidoff-Gore, Caitlin Dermody, Daniel Vernick, the study concluded that “the Gulen schools appear to be implicated in a greater scandal that would most likely affect the students’ abilities to receive an education solely focusing on the student’s growth academically, intellectually, and socially.”
The charges the Gulen schools face are “paying female and non-Turkish teachers less than male Turks to favoring Turkish companies for construction of school buildings despite lower bids from American businesses, and forcing teachers brought over from Turkey to give a certain portion of their salary to Gulen political leaders in Turkey.” Yet, with this wealth of information, the William Penn School District and Pennsylvania State Representative Margo Davidson, both approved a charter school run by Adem Oksuz whose employment record includes education stops driven by the Gulen Movement.
Mr. Gülen has an international following estimated to approach 10 million people. He has developed a vast network of businesses and nongovernmental organizations that supply him with financial support, and he is estimated to control at least $25 billion in assets. In the United States, Mr. Gülen controls dozens of business entities and more than 120 charter schools in various states, many of which are or have been under investigation by state and federal criminal and regulatory authorities. The California chapter of the NAACP has also called for all Gulen schools to close immediately.
