Questions about Turkish-connected charters in Texas

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by David Safier

Tucson's Sonoran Science Academy charter school gets a fair amount of praise for its students' academic achievement as well as criticism for its connections to the Turkish-based, moderate Islamic Gulenist movement. Yesterday's NY Times has a long, critical article about the 33 charters in Texas with similar ties.

[NOTE: Before I go further, let me make it clear my criticism here will be less about the Turkish and Islamic connections of these schools than with a pervasive problem with the whole charter school movement. The nationwide underregulation of charters leads to schools spending government funds with favored business partners and often hiring faculty with motives other than giving their students the best possible education. The Texas schools in the NY Times article share those characteristics with many other charters.]

The article is about the Cosmos Foundation,

"a charter school operator founded a decade ago by a group of professors and businessmen from Turkey. Operating under the name Harmony Schools, Cosmos has moved quickly to become the largest charter school operator in Texas, with 33 schools receiving more than $100 million a year in taxpayer funds."

The quality of education at the schools isn't challenged in the article. Though some school scores are below the state average, there is no discussion of the socioeconomic levels of the students to put the numbers in perspective. (Tucson's Sonoran Science has consistently high test scores, due in great part to the quality of students it attracts.)

The schools have funneled $50 million in construction contracts, the vast majority of its construction business, to TDM, which happens to be run by Turkish-Americans. They bring in lots of teachers from Turkey to work at their schools. And they purchase teacher support, assessment and curriculum from companies run by Turkish-Americans.

None of this is illegal, unless there are bidding irregularities. But it's typical of the incestuous relationships in too many charter schools. Family ties and intimate business relationships often trump wise use of funds or hiring of staff. That's all fine and good if it's done in private enterprise — if your profits plummet because of unwise spending and hiring decisions, that's your problem — but when the dollars per student are coming from the government and the schools are functioning as tuition-free public schools, that's a serious problem indeed. The whole charter school system is rife with financial flimflam. How charter school's money should be spent is poorly defined, and government regulation is spotty to nonexistent.

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5 thoughts on “Questions about Turkish-connected charters in Texas”

  1. Did you read the link, because for you to say that the “govt. is doing a bad job…” doesn’t make sense! Scott TOOK taxpayer money MEANT FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, and diverted that $$$ to PRIVATE SCHOOLS! That’s not GOVT failing,that’s a GOVERNOR failing to do right by the people that put him there (much to their disgust now).This notion that govt. can’t do anything right, is precisely why these wackjobs got in their in the first place…and lo and behold, the people of those states are questioning what the hell they were thinking when they did that.Buyer’s remorse to be sure…and mark my words, as the sun rises in the east everyday, they will all be outta there as soon as legally possible to boot their sorry asses out.Privatization of ANYTHING is only there for one reason, and one reason only. TO MAKE A PROFIT.They don’t give a rat’s butt if student’s learn,or succeed, they are there for the almighty dollar,and if that is the benchmark they use, and you condone that behavior,then shame on you!The dumbing down of America seems to have worked on people that think like you.

  2. David,
    Thanks for this article. In fact I really felt that it was fair and balanced.

    As you know I have been watch dogging these schools across the country. What sticks out in my mind is when the principal of the school (Sonoran Science Academy) stated in a news letter to parents that if he did not get 75,000 in tax credit donations he may have to furlough teachers and cut programs for the kids.

    However a few months earlier they had gone to Hawaii in an attempt to convert a STEM school on the Marine Base into one their charters schools. This is a very expensive undertaking to do so. They did not get the school, so they decided to use their partner in California, the Pacifica Institute to offer free trips to Turkey to local politicians and school board members in order to sway their decision.

    Meanwhile back in Texas they have the highest H1-B applicants in the country for that industry. There is no shortage of janitors, lawyers or caterers in this country.

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