Criss-Cross -- Hip-- Hop, Over the Country We Go...
Sr. Reporter: Utah board orders closure of Turkish-run charter school
by Tim Steller
Posted: Monday, May 3, 2010 11:35 am
Tuscon Star Website: http://azstarnet.com/
Utah's charter school board decided last week to order the closure of Beehive Science & Technology Academy, a Turkish-run school related to Arizona's Sonoran Science Academy schools.
It was the first time that the six-year-old board has ordered a school to be closed, according to stories in the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News.
The Beehive school has been in some trouble after authorities received allegations that it was promoting Islam. The board cleared Beehive of that claim last year but raised concerns about its poor financial condition.
Among the concerns was that the school routinely brought in teachers from Turkey, costing the school thousands of dollars in visa and relocation expenses.
The school's business administrator "admitted spending extra money to bring teachers in from Turkey but said he felt the teachers were 'higher quality,' " the Deseret News reported.
"Seeking international experience in teaching is part of our mission statement as a school," he said, adding that "it is difficult to find qualified math and science experts in the United States."
Beehive is one of several groups of charter schools in the West that are run by Turks and are affililated with the Accord Institute in Southern California. Beehive's current principal, Murat Biyik, once was a math teacher at Sonoran Science Academy in Tucson. He was one of several people whose travels among the network of Turkish schools I documented in this April 25 story.
I spoke briefly with Mr. Biyik by phone before that story was published and asked him about his five positions with four different Turkish-run educational institutions in recent years. He said he left Tucson because his wife didn't like it, but he didn't explain his four other stops after that. He did say he is a "consultant" for Beehive from Accord Institute.
by Tim Steller
Posted: Monday, May 3, 2010 11:35 am
Tuscon Star Website: http://azstarnet.com/
Utah's charter school board decided last week to order the closure of Beehive Science & Technology Academy, a Turkish-run school related to Arizona's Sonoran Science Academy schools.
It was the first time that the six-year-old board has ordered a school to be closed, according to stories in the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News.
The Beehive school has been in some trouble after authorities received allegations that it was promoting Islam. The board cleared Beehive of that claim last year but raised concerns about its poor financial condition.
Among the concerns was that the school routinely brought in teachers from Turkey, costing the school thousands of dollars in visa and relocation expenses.
The school's business administrator "admitted spending extra money to bring teachers in from Turkey but said he felt the teachers were 'higher quality,' " the Deseret News reported.
"Seeking international experience in teaching is part of our mission statement as a school," he said, adding that "it is difficult to find qualified math and science experts in the United States."
Beehive is one of several groups of charter schools in the West that are run by Turks and are affililated with the Accord Institute in Southern California. Beehive's current principal, Murat Biyik, once was a math teacher at Sonoran Science Academy in Tucson. He was one of several people whose travels among the network of Turkish schools I documented in this April 25 story.
I spoke briefly with Mr. Biyik by phone before that story was published and asked him about his five positions with four different Turkish-run educational institutions in recent years. He said he left Tucson because his wife didn't like it, but he didn't explain his four other stops after that. He did say he is a "consultant" for Beehive from Accord Institute.