What does that mean? Well, to date, 120 charters schools have been opened in the United States under the direction and administration of Fetulah Gulen's "followers." And who is Gulen you ask? Gulen is a Turkish national who just happens to be living on an estate in Pennsylvannia after being run out of Turkey because the Turkish government had a pretty good suspicion that he was going to overthrow their government.
So of course, the United States took him in, and despite being "almost" deported, Gulen managed to convince our government that he was such an important guy that we should let him stay (guess it helps when a former CIA operative give you a letter of support).
So what does he do in his leisure time? He helps "educate" our children, by opening charter schools. But of course, he will not admit to being the ringleader behind this grand gesture, instead he employs his merry band of thieves to orchestrate the opening and operation of the 120 charter schools spread all over the US.
The Turkish nationals are rounded up and sent over to the United States (although, there are some already here and ready to comply) and they set up their "non-profit" management companies that then set up the "non-profit" charter schools using federal and state funding.
But the fun really starts when they lie to US immigration services about not being able to fill teaching and administration positions and have to bring over Turkish guys to fill the spots. Coincidentally, I have yet to find any American women over 40 (or for that matter, any age) in a Director, Dean of Academics, or Business Manager position. Golly gee, I guess that CIA guy that gave Gulen the reference forgot to talk to him about the US Equal Employment laws. That same guy must have also forgotten to mention that it is a big no-no to lie to the US Immigration Services.
So now they have the schools up and running and guess what -- 98% of the Board of Directors are Turkish and male....go figure! And the few Americans (and women) are usually related/married to a Turkish guy!
The curriculum usually includes a nice Turkish class because they know how important it is for a poor inner city kid to be able to speak Turkish. Who cares if she cannot read or write English to proficiency standards, as long as she can say "Merhaba" the world is right again. But then if they did not offer Turkish classes, how could they tell the INS that they could not fill that spot with a qualified American? And they just might be right on that count, because in my teaching career I have yet to find a great demand for Turkish teachers in the US.
But the best part is yet to come. Aside from the immigration fraud, the powers that be actually extort money from their own Turkish "friends," and in doing so launder government funds and that just happen to go to...? Oh! that's right, no one really knows where all that cash is going. By my estimates, it's about $150 million in cash money going somewhere -- umm, but where?
Read about the "Tuzuk" for details on that one.
So if you are a parent out there who just happens to have a kid who is lucky enough to be enrolled in one of the 120 charter schools, you might want to ask a few questions -- like -- why are there only Turkish men running the school? What's up with all the Turkish Board Members? And golly gee, does my kid really need to learn how to speak Turkish?
Here's an interesting blog and an great article that you can follow:
http://www.turkishforum.com.tr/en/content/2009/06/23/fetullah-gulens-schools-are-all-over-the-us/
http://www.meforum.org/2045/fethullah-gulens-grand-ambition