Below is a letter published from the Arizona Star and in response to the article written by Tim Steller on April 25, 2010.

Now what we find very telling in Karatas' response is that he skirts the issue of whether or not the school is affiliated with Gulen. He mentions that Steller incorporates Gulen references in his story -- but still does explain the school's  specific relationship with Gulen.

Karatas states "That our schools have no institutional affiliation with ANY non-educational organization." What does that mean Karatas?

Gulen's organization espouses its educational mission in the United States. As a matter of fact, the only reason Gulen hasn't been deported is because he's been classified as an "educator with special talents."

So we're thinking that pretty soon the Americans will finally figure out that these guys are not exactly the most "honest" and forthright guys in America and that they have to read between the lines every time they open their mouths to speak.

And will someone please explain to Karatas that being a Turkish teacher is a matter of nationality and not race? Let's not compare apples with oranges, you know, like comparing highly qualified American teachers to Turkish teachers with substitute licenses.

And note the reference to how they "excel," which reminds us -- check out our "Power of Excel" story on this website. You will see how qualified some of the Turkish teachers are that have been teaching in the Midwest region of Gulen's schools. We have to believe that if we did a similar spreadsheet in other parts of our country, that we would find like qualifications.

Dear SSA Middle/High School Families,

Approximately a month ago, we had a guest from Arizona Daily Star (Mr. Tim Steller) who visited our school and was quite impressed by great things happening at SSA. In addition, he interviewed almost all founders, some staff members, many parents, some students, ADE Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, and many other individuals.

Well, today, the news article by Tim Steller has been published on AZ Daily Star. As you will see it for yourself, the story raises issues related to immigration and international teachers who have valid (and fully legal) visas and also touches the school's possible affiliation with the Gulen movement.  The reporter merged multiple sources of information he received into an article.
 
Dr. Yildiz (our Superintendent) had provided our schools' official responses to all questions raised by Mr. Steller during his research.  As a member of SSA family, no one knows our school better than you. Let me reiterate the point that our schools have no institutional affiliation with ANY non-educational organization. Our focus is excelling educational practices and academic success. And what makes SSA great is our hard working faculty, staff and students. We salute and highly appreciate the genuine efforts and enormous contributions of our teachers, regardless of their RACIAL background, to make SSA an excelling school.
 
Dr. Yildiz (our Superintendent) had provided our schools' official responses to all questions raised by Mr. Steller during his research.  As a member of SSA family, no one knows our school better than you. Let me reiterate the point that our schools have no institutional affiliation with ANY non-educational organization. Our focus is excelling educational practices and academic success. And what makes SSA great is our hard working faculty, staff and students. We salute and highly appreciate the genuine efforts and enormous contributions of our teachers, regardless of their RACIAL background, to make SSA an excelling school.
 
The story touches very sensitive topics and raises numerous allegations. Even though it does not make any definitive claims, it attempts to raise suspicions. We shall stand tall and keep doing our best to help our students learn and excel.

We have a lot of great academic projects that continue to keep us busy (which is great). We don't let this distract us from our stated goals stipulated in our charter. We aim high and continue to work hard to reach them with your support, our dear parents. With this in mind, I leave the interpretation and judgment of the story to you.
 
I just wanted to share this news with you. You can read the full article,  or voice out your thoughts if you wish, by visiting this url:
 
http://azstarnet.com/news/science/environment/article_dec199db-be3f-5519-be3d-f6ad970db1f8.html"
Go SSA!

Mr. Karatas

Principal