Tim Stellar from the Arizona Star, one of the few reporters who is actually committed to following through on the "Gulen-inspired" schools through his ongoing investigations, recently wrote a blog about the excessive management fees that the Accord Institute for Education Research collects from the "Gulen-inspired" schools in Arizona.

Allegedly, the fees are part of the "management package" that Accord offers to the schools, much like the fees  all of the rest of their brother management companies, (like Concept Schools in the Midwest).

We know from our own experiences that what you get for the money is not much. For instance, part of the "package" is that the Turkish brothers come through twice a year to evaluate the American teachers. They usually hire an American for the Humanities studies to evaluate the teachers because most of them (the evaluators) can barely speak English, let alone have the ability or expertise to evaluate an English teacher on her/his teaching skills.  

As for all of the accompanying materials that they claim merit all of those school-funded tax dollars -- how hard is it to copy the same material over and over and mail it out? Seems like we are paying a premium price for Turkish guys to make copies. It's not as if they are hand-tailoring the materials for the schools.

As for the "technology-based" curriculum  lessons, that are part of the exorbitant management fees,  that is also humorous, considering 90% of the technology teachers are Turkish guys (they are afraid the Americans might get into their "sacred files," so they make sure that they hire their own for that job). 

And the home-visits -- they make copies of a form -- big deal. Again, it  seems like we are paying top-dollar for a copy service.

The bottom line is that the management fees via Accord, Concept, etc., are all part of the grand money-laundering scheme that these guys have been "managing" for the past 10 years.

It's all part of the Gulen pyramid. Use a Turkish-run holding company to purchase a school, pay the rent (which too is grossly overinflated) to the Turkish holding company, hire the Turkish-run "education" management company and pay them ridiculous fees for virtually nothing (except for those really good copies), and collect all of the Tuzuk money from the Turkish employees.

And once again -- where exactly is the money going once all of the many funds/fees are collected?

What a scam -- these guys make Bernie Madoff look like an amateur crook. And speaking of -- we'd like to see some of these guys rooming with Bernie in the near future.

Here's Stellar's blog that was  posted on the Arizona Star website on 10.22.10:
 http://azstarnet.com/news/blogs/senor-reporter/article_9b232eea-de22-11df-bacf-001cc4c03286.html
Sr. Reporter: What does $364K in tax money buy these charter schools? Sr. Reporter: What does $364K in tax money buy these charter schools? Tim Steller, Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Friday, October 22, 2010 2:30 pm

Since early this year, when I was researching my stories on Sonoran Science Academy and the Gülen movement, I've been curious about the Accord Institute.

The Accord Institute for Education Research says on its website that it "develops an education model for math, science and technology oriented K-12 schools through research on existing education practices, and testing innovative approaches, and provides consulting and training services."

This summer, through a public records request, I've learned how much money the Daisy Education Corp. schools paid to Accord. Over the last two school years, four Daisy schools have paid a total of $364,103 to Accord. One of those schools, Sonoran Science Academy-Tucson, paid the bulk of that amount, $156,060.

The reason for my curiosity is that my earlier research suggested Accord is not simply a curriculum provider, as the contracts with Accord say, but a regional hub that oversees all the Turkish-run charter schools in the West. This week, I've found out that, indeed, the schools buy regular curricular products from other providers, such as Harcourt and Saxon.

I am trying to establish contact with Accord officials but have not succeeded yet.

The growing ranks of critics of the so-called "Gulen-Inspired Schools" point to Accord as a regional hub like Concept Schools in Chicago and Cosmos Foundation in Houston. One blogger pointed out that Accord has the exact same four precepts as the Pinnacle School Model in Washington D.C.

Among the 12 services listed in Accord's contract with the Daisy Education schools:

• Technology Integrated Education curriculum and lesson plans.

• Character Education Program for teachers of this subject.

• Accord College Planning Guide, a printed guide for students.

• Home Visit Teacher Guide, apparently a plan for school employees conducting home visits.

• Teacher evaluation — observations and online evaluations made at least once every year.

Are these and the other programs worth $160 per student per year, the amount Accord charges? Are there unwritten obligations that come with affiliating with Accord? Can the Turkish-run charter schools opt out if they wish? These are some of the questions I'm pondering.