by David Safier
Last December, Tucson Weekly ran an article by Tim Vanderpool about the Sonoran Science Academy charter schools: Hidden Agenda? Parents raise concerns that a Tucson charter school has ties to a Turkish nationalist movement.
Today, Tim Steller has a long, excellent piece in the Star about Sonoran Science. It's well researched, informative and even handed, one of those articles about a controversial subject where readers are given enough information to draw their own conclusions without unnecessary editorial intrusion by the writer.
[NOTE: I feel the need to repeat what I've said often before. Good reporters are a vital part of any city, state or country's informed existence. That's why I hope, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports about the death of America's newspapers are greatly exaggerated. Steller has been doing excellent work lately. And, for all the fact that I have criticized Rhonda Bodfield — rather harshly in the past few days — I have said before and continue to maintain that Bodfield is an excellent journalist. When I feel she has strayed from good reporting, I call her on it and try to back up my criticisms so others can judge whether they're valid. But I hope no one thinks for a second I am claiming that people like me are anything like replacements for real journalists like Steller and Bodfield. I don't have the training, the resources or the time to do their jobs.]
OK, back to Steller's article about Sonoran Science Academy.
It's pretty clear students at these charter schools get excellent science and math educations. The schools are serious about their educational mission.
It's also clear the schools have lots of teachers who were educated in Turkey — 32%, by Steller's estimate — and that both Turkish language and culture are taught at the school.
There's a legitimate question whether the schools are affiliated with The Gülen Movement, which is "inspired by Fethullah Gülen, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania." I won't try to summarize the movement, except to say it is described as a sinister movement by some and a Turkey-centric educational movement by others. I don't know enough to form an educated opinion.
If the Sonoran Science schools have a loose affiliation with The Gülen Movement, which the school's superintendent denies, there's a question as to whether that is necessarily a problem.
Months back, I received some semi-hysterical emails from people about Sonoran Science and its connections with Gülen. I followed the links they provided and found little more than innuendo and guilt by association, nothing I felt I could use to pin a negative label on the schools. If concerns about the school are valid, the critics need to do a better job of substantiating their claims.
I'm a big proponent of greater oversight of charter schools, but I see nothing at the Sonoran Science Academy charters that raises red flags. Parents who object to the undeniable Turkish influence in the schools can put their children elsewhere.
Look, we live in a demonstrably xenophobic state, yet the Sonoran Science schools seem to have no trouble attracting students, even with so many foreign born teachers. For me, that's an indication the schools are doing a good job educating their students.
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“I’m not certain why SSA is doing so well.”
Here is one possible explanation:
The Arizona Daily Star – July 21, 2003
Claims cost charter school $5K
“The Sonoran Science Academy charter school paid two claims, using about $5,000 in state taxpayer money, to settle accusations a math teacher locked children in a closet as punishment. The Arizona State Board for Charter Schools is also opening an investigation into the school on a separate issue after receiving a letter from a former teacher. She wrote that she saw an administrator help students answer questions on the state-required AIMS test and that students were allowed…”
(This excerpt can be found at the NewsLibrary.com website; the remainder of the article unfortunately requires payment to access.)
For those who believe that state “regulatory” agencies can be trusted to do a thorough investigation when such allegations are made, check out this article entitled “Cheating’s off the charts at charter schools”:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/060407dnmetcharters.38e3799.html
Note where they say
“And most perplexing of all: A state investigation into the allegations is about to clear the school of all charges – without examining a single student answer sheet. Instead, a state employee interviewed school staff and asked whether they had cheated.”
Yes, that was in Texas, but the state board here in AZ is even more lax.
With regard to the statement:
“They don’t pick and choose their students, they take everyone who comes in and registers on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis.”
here is a newspaper article entitled “Low-scoring students told to leave” from another Gulen charter school in San Antonio, Sep 5, 2009
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/Low-scoring_students_told_to_leave.html
Many parents who wanted to get their child admitted to SSA will tell you a story that runs like this: they asked to be admitted and were told there was a waiting list. In the meantime, they were told that their child needed to take a placement test, just in case a spot opened up. Of course the placement test had absolutely *nothing* (trust them!) to do with whether an opening somehow appeared subsequently. No, it was completely unrelated.
I’d be fascinated to hear of any example of a child who excels academically and was denied admission to SSA on the grounds that there was no place. I don’t believe it ever happened. The supposed waiting list seems to magically melt away in such cases.
Go to the SSA website and download their admission form:
http://www.sonoranacademy.org/tucson/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=ZL4TCXVGVcs%3d&tabid=212
Now please explain why they need to know the primary language of the student, when legally they are not allowed to use this information in deciding on admission? Also, please explain why the father and mother have to give their place of employment, when this too, by law, is not allowed to play any role in admission? Where a child’s parents work can be a good statistical predictor of the child’s likely academic performance.
Majority of these Sonoran School Fanclub letters are from the staff at the Sonoran Science Academy. You people have no idea what these Gulen Movement is about.
First of all learn up on “Turkification” and what the true agenda is. The Islamic Republic of Turkey would never permit American Christians to build schools in Turkey they would kill you and burn the schools down. They have an agenda to brainwash the children of America at a young age and use propaganda for the schools. Don’t forget it was a Turk who shot the last Pope.
1/2 the Teachers are Turkish or from other Turkified countries like: Ubekistan, Kazakhstan, Krygyzstan, Azerbaijan. While our good American Teachers are becoming unemployed. They control the class studies and will not permit anything that tarnishes the country of Turkey including it’s dark ugly history as the Ottoman Empire.
The test scores are all a lie and part of the PR campaign that Turkey and the schools are applying on Americans. Gephardt, Hastert, Fein are all paid lobbyists to help clean up the image of the IROT, to the tune of $45,000 a month.
In addition, many American corporations like Raytheon support the Gulen Movement. Raytheon has lucrative military contracts with Turkey so they are also supporting the Gulen Agenda.
Why do you think one of the Sonoran schools is on a military base?
These schools even have a Turkish American Club..not an American Club, Not a Native American Club.
Gulen is not transparent, the schools operate under different names in different states under different foundation names. The 80 schools in the USA have these cutsy sweet sounding names like: Magnolia (CA) Beehive(UT) Harmony (TX) under one foundation called Daisy Education Corporation, according to the 990 IRS tax returns at http://www.guidestar.com they grossed $6 million in revenues.
What kind of message are we putting out to our children that we as a country are uncapable of providing decent education that we have to pay Gulen and his non=American teachers with our tax dollars to give us the right education? It is a bunch of BULL.
Islamic schools are entitled to operate like a Catholic, 7th Day Adventist Academy, etc., BUT operate as a PRIVATE school not with my TAX MONEY!
Google Gulen Movement, or Turkish Schools and see the amount of controvery brewing over this undemocratic censored school. They operate like Turkey does with Article 301, everything must be positive toward the school or their country. Having a different point of view or discussing the truth is punishable with imprisonment for insulting Turkishness.
Mr. Karatas has even threatened parents of ex-students.
I thought the article was poorly put together and I’m embarrassed that one of the major newspapers of a city like Tucson would actually print this. There is nothing illegal, immoral or scandalous that was even presented in the article. The whole article smacked of xenophobia. The entire conversation about the Gulen movement conspiracy sounds like something I would expect from radio talk shows. Little more presented here other than guilt by association.
As a parent of two kids at SSA, yes, it’s very unusual that a group of Turks in Tucson decided to put together a charter school. Of all nationalities, why Turks? Why not Germans or Kenyans or Thais? I really don’t know. The only thing I know for certain is that they have put together a fantastic school. My kids are both a full grade level beyond where they should be in their math and reading. They come home happy and they’re doing well. From our experience, everything that a parent could want for their child’s education is going on at SSA.
The real shame here is that the author chose to denigrate one of Arizona’s top performing schools, which is doing nothing wrong at all, rather than explore what is making the school work so well. I wish I knew how they did it. They don’t pick and choose their students, they take everyone who comes in and registers on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis. Our facility, at the Broadway location, really isn’t as nice as most schools. So it’s not a big, expensive facility that makes a school great. I’m not certain why SSA is doing so well. But our government sponsored schools could really stand to learn from the charter schools and from SSA.
One positive thing I’ve seen so far is that charter schools can terminate under-performing teachers. Our first year there, they let a teacher go mid way through the year. I asked around a little and I heard from more than one source that the teacher terminated just wasn’t doing her job. Too many kids were not learning and falling behind. They brought in a new teacher and turned it around. The concept of terminating under-performing teachers is so utterly foriegn to the NEA-controlled government school system, it might as well be in Turkish.
The fact is that our government run schools are failing miserably at providing our children the education they will need for the future. The fact is that SSA, along with many other charter schools, is performing fabulously by all methods of measuring school and student performance. The fact is that SSA has a waiting list of students with parents hoping that their children get in next year. The fact is that SSA is growing rapidly while still continuing to provide an excellent education. After all the slander and innuendo, please remember the facts.
At the base of the Statue of Liberty is the inscription “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” One hundred years ago it was my Grandfather who came here from Germany to make shoes. Today it is a group of Turkish educators who have come here (legally, I might add) to do the job that, regardless of the reason, we’re not doing for ourselves.
The single greatest thing about this whole situation is that if you don’t like SSA, don’t send your kids there. I’m grateful I have the opportunity to choose my child’s school. Too many kids are forced into under-performing and dangerous government run school systems. Thankfully, in Arizona, we have the right to choose and we can vote with our feet.
Please, people leave the school alone.
Sonoran Science Academy does not force any students to study Turkish, only in 6th grade they have a semester of Turkish, after that the students can pick either Spanish or Turkish.
I am Vietnamese and went to school there until 7th grade, so I can tell you public schools in United States are very bad (not all, but most), parents don’t take responsible for their own kids and blame the teachers. My daughter is happy at SSA and doing great there, so I don’t care if the teachers are from Turkey.
Email it to me at safier@schooltales.net . Thanks.
The document is no longer downloadable from the Accord website, but I could email it to you.
Anonymous Parent, I’ll follow your links and see what I find. But you don’t give a link to “a document downloaded from the Accord Institute’s website a while back.” I would like to be able to see that as well.
By the way, do you currently have a child at Sonoran? You don’t have to answer, of course, but if you have a close connection with the school, I would like to know what you think about its academic program across the curriculum.
It is important to avoid stereotypes. While the recent and unfortunate immigration law passed by our legislature naturally sets up an environment where one suspects all Arizonans of xenophobia, I’d encourage everyone to be very cautious about jumping to conclusions.
Any issue has the potential to attract certain fringe people who rant and rave. Please look beyond this and consider that there are people who are presenting carefully reasoned concerns. Please give them the benefit of the doubt, and do not immediately slap the “xenophobia” label on everyone before looking at the facts.
A very important issue for any parent is who actually controls their school. When parents have concerns or questions, they can go to a level above their principal, and voice these concerns. The problem with Sonoran Science Academy is that parents have no access to the people actually controlling their school and setting many school policies. If you believe that Sonoran’s affiliation with the Gulen Movement is “loose,” I invite you to view a document downloaded from the Accord Institute’s website a while back, showing a program for a workshop taking place in California and covering virtually every aspect of the school’s functions. This is no independent locally controlled charter school, and yet the school has gone out of its way to present it to parents as an independent locally controlled charter school. This is a serious truth-in-advertising issue.
Another reason this is important is for contributions that parents make to the school. Some of us would gladly contribute to a locally run small school that is run by a group of qualified people of *any* nationality/religion who got together and formed a charter school because they genuinely felt a need for better science and math education. We would not contribute to a school run by a worldwide movement with an agenda such as that of the Gulen movement. Again, a truth-in-advertising issue. The school went to enormous lengths to hide its Gulen affiliations and misrepresent itself and its origins.
I see a huge potential for conflict of interest when a single group completely controls public funds for a large number of interconnected organizations. Again, this concern is irrespective of the nationality/religious persuasion of the group.
As far as the tired argument that this is a “choice” school, for the thousandth time, we taxpayers have no choice as to funding it. Therefore we have a right to raise concerns.
I have reasons for not wanting to advance the Gulen movement with my tax dollars. Consider the following report “Being Different in Turkey” from the Open Society Institute about discrimination against non-devout Turks under the current AKP government, and consider that the AKP is very closely intertwined with Gulen and his movement:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7792239.stm
I sympathize with secular Turks who worry about the AKP because they don’t want religion to play a major role in their government. I want the same for my country.
The Gulen Movement has gone to great lengths to make sure it looks good in English-language publications. In fact, it owns its own publishing house and newspapers to publish its own propaganda. Within Turkey, a sizable portion of the population holds an extremely negative view of this movement. Further concerns include what happened to investigative journalist Nedim Sener, who happened to author a book in Turkey that was highly critical of Gulen:
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/11840026.asp
http://www.ifex.org/turkey/2010/02/22/authors_on_trial/
Also, Professor Necip Hablemitoglu was gunned down in front of his home in Ankara while writing a book on the infiltration of the Gulen movement into the Turkish police.
While it cannot be proved that the Gulen movement was involved in either Sener’s imprisonment or Hablemitoglu’s assassination, I find this all sufficiently disturbing that I would not want my tax dollars to support this movement in any way.
My question is: If the agenda of the founder is to advance a Turkish national movement, should that be promoted at taxpayer expense? Should it be a public charter school?
Sonoran Schools excelled and that is why its replications were accepted by ADE,and Congress also confirmed to open the very first charter school in the entire nation in the Tucson DM USAF.I like my kids being there and learning more and faster than any other public school.
Nic-nic, I don’t have a dog in this hunt, but I’m not sure your comment about there being plenty of teachers is accurate. Before the last year or possibly two, teachers weren’t being RIFed in large numbers, and my experience as a teacher was, it was hard to find good, qualified math and science teachers. English teachers like me and social studies teachers are usually in surplus, but not math and science folks.
And you may be wrong about the wages, though I don’t know for sure. I talked to a teacher at another charter who made more than comparable teachers at TUSD — and she was expected to put in incredibly long hours for her added compensation. Someone familiar with Sonoran Academy’s salary scale could tell us more.
That being said, the people who run the school obviously have an agenda to bring teachers from Turkey to the U.S. So it’s a mixed bag.
In our current situation, I certainly hope Sonoran Academy will look locally for new hires, since we have so many highly qualified teachers who are out of a job through no fault of their own.
It’s pretty ridiculous, and insulting, to say there’s a shortage of adequate teachers when exemplary public school teachers are being RIF’ed all over the state. What they MEAN is, they aren’t able to find adequate teachers willing to work for below even the already near-slave wages the average teacher makes in this state.
Enjoy:
Legal visa holders: Foreigners
Illegal migrants: Entrants
You decide what’s an excellent reporting. Maybe FEARFUL of having to be named “racist”?
I read about Mr. Gulen from his website http://fgulen.org. I see no harm in his messages. He is now 72 years old and he has dedicated his life to people. He is Muslim that is true but all of his life is dedicated to spreading the all good moral and ethical values to all humanity. Universities are hosting conferences about his life, work he has done and inspirations that he gave to the people around him. If you go and get some info about him from his official web sites you will see that there is nothing but goodness. So if the Turkish people in those school inspired from him what’s wrong with it. I support all these schools and see no harm with having Turkish staff or this staff is being inspired from Mr.Gulen. GO SONORAN GO.
I am sending my child to one of those schools. She is getting education one level further than the education she was supposed to get. I am in touch with those Turkish people. They are very dedicated and doing lots of activities to motivate our kids. These schools are under the state monitoring and if there was something illegal they wouldn’t be able to run those schools. I don’t see any harm for my child because of she is getting information about various nations, cultures this is actually what the diversity is and what America is all about. The ones who are spreading hatred needs to come and volunteer in those schools and help to the schools to serve this country in a better way. I have read about Mr. Gulen as well. He is now 72 years old and all of his life has been spent for goodness of people. What are you afraid of about him. If Mr. Gulen and his followers did not cause any harm in those 73 years why do you think that he will bring any harm after those years. I applauded the job that schools have done so far and will support them now on with all my heart.