Truebright Charter School Non-Renewal

**annie** · 04-19-2012, 09:41 AM

Allegations raised over N. Phila. charter school run by followers of Turkish imam

This organization that is facing federal investigation for immigration fraud (specifically bringing Turkish males on H-1B visas and requiring them to donate back to the parent movement) and Equal Equal Opportunity complaints (for paying U.S.-born workers less than the less qualified H-1B Turkish workers) showed up to the SRC meeting on Monday with a cheering section that was almost entirely Turkish males, presumably their employees. ETA: This was particularly telling because the other charters up for non-renewal have been rallying for weeks with students, parents and teachers testifying before the SRC.

The SRC vote tonight should be interesting.

**ArcticSplash** · 04-19-2012, 10:02 AM

Originally Posted by annie

Allegations raised over N. Phila. charter school run by followers of Turkish imam

This organization that is facing federal investigation for immigration fraud (specifically bringing Turkish males on H-1B visas and requiring them to donate back to the parent movement) and Equal Equal Opportunity complaints (for paying U.S.-born workers less than the less qualified H-1B Turkish workers) showed up to the SRC meeting on Monday with a cheering section that was almost entirely Turkish males, presumably their employees. ETA: This was particularly telling because the other charters up for non-renewal have been rallying for weeks with students, parents and teachers testifying before the SRC.

The SRC vote tonight should be interesting.

Amazing.

Yeah, I think this is gonna be an easy decision. Cancel all 3 charters.

**macdaire** · 04-19-2012, 10:17 AM

Wow.

Additionally, how are they getting H1-B visas for counselors when there is a glut of certified counselors here. H1-B visas are for "speciality occupations"

**seand** · 04-19-2012, 10:19 AM

In reality, only 33 of the 50 students who started in ninth grade stayed and received diplomas, according to a former administrator.

Geeze Louise, if you are going to run your charter school as a secretive HB-1 visa mill for your religious movement, at least make sure taking care of the kids educational needs are job #1. When are these secretive religous movements going to learn?

On the up side, the eggplant in the school lunch program is supposed to be very, very good. (badum bump!)

**annie** · 04-19-2012, 10:22 AM

Originally Posted by ArcticSplash

Amazing.

Yeah, I think this is gonna be an easy decision. Cancel all 3 charters.

The other charters focus specifically on disadvantaged youth (students in/out foster care, students in/out of the juvenile justice system, homeless etc.) and are being recommended for non-renewal because their test scores aren't high enough(!). They've made their case much moreso and more compellingly than Truebright. Though if the other two get renewed despite their low test scores, neighborhood school advocates are going to be calling for their test scores to be analyzed in the context of their specific student populations as well. The administrators were bending over backwards on Monday trying to defend their rating system.

**annie** · 04-19-2012, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by macdaire

Additionally, how are they getting H1-B visas for counselors when there is a glut of certified counselors here. H1-B visas are for "speciality occupations"

Specialty occupation just means that it requires a degree or equivalent training/experience. You don't have to prove that there aren't qualified U.S. workers available (that is required in the Green Card process). You do have pay the prevailing wage which is where they probably got themselves into trouble. If the workers are required to tithe back to the movement, it could mean the employees are really being paid below the prevailing wage.

**The Count** · 04-19-2012, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by annie

Allegations raised over N. Phila. charter school run by followers of Turkish imam

This organization that is facing federal investigation for immigration fraud (specifically bringing Turkish males on H-1B visas and requiring them to donate back to the parent movement) and Equal Equal Opportunity complaints (for paying U.S.-born workers less than the less qualified H-1B Turkish workers) showed up to the SRC meeting on Monday with a cheering section that was almost entirely Turkish males, presumably their employees. ETA: This was particularly telling because the other charters up for non-renewal have been rallying for weeks with students, parents and teachers testifying before the SRC.

The SRC vote tonight should be interesting.

The number of scam/fake charter schools is mind blowing and the reason why I will not even consider public or charter schools.

A family member works for major accounting firm here I Philly that handles the accounting for a number of charter schools in Philly. Last summer he told that 18 of their charter schools are being investigated by the FBI. The "charter" is apparently a license to distribute money to relatives in Baltimore, Atlanta, Jacksonville, etc. He said one look at the payroll and you see somebody's aunt is listed as an assistant principal and getting paid even though they live in Houston.

He did say that KIPP is on the up and up, by all the independent ones are just run by people who have nothin to do with education and no experience running a school. It's a travesty that the SRC allows all these fake schools to continue to operate.

**republic** · 04-21-2012, 03:25 PM

It is very unfortunate that Philly residents have no clue about the real purpose of these institutions such as Truebright Science Academy! These are Islamic fundamentalist Abdullah Gülen founded organizations for solely making propaganda and spreading poison throughout the nation... open your eyes and start investigating. There are about 150 to 200 Turkish charter schools such as Truebright operated by an Islamic cult managed by Imam Fetullah Gulen all over the US. Imam Gulen's well known statement to his followers goes as follows "Travel within the arteries of the system without being noticed, and wait for the right time for action. Bride the courts, bribe the judges to win your case even if you need to spend millions of dollars to do so. This Imam expelled by the Turkish government now lives in the US. They abuse the immigration system to get 100s of Turkish teachers to teach at these charter schools while the American teachers flip burgers unemployed. Turkish teachers pay a percentage of their salaries back to the cult, seems voluntary, yet mandatory. So American tax payers pay these Turkish teachers in the school district. And the money eventually support the Gulen cult that had a secret agenda. The idea behind these Islamic charter schools is to create an American generation who are close to Gulen's Islamic movement in ideology. The cult further identifies the most successful kids in the system and trains them as the leaders of the future. I am very glad that finally the secret agenda of the Imam Fetulla Gulen cult surface.
All these schools may say they are Gulen Inspired ( TrueBright) and they have followers of Gulen (Cult Members)but let us look closer at the knucklehead they are inspired by. To quote Gulen's own words.
"You must become a bomb and explode against the USA..."
"You must move through the artery of the systems until conditions are ripe..."
"The Vatacin is a den of snakes and the Pope is like a Cobra...."
"You must build a web(Madrassas-Schools) and lay with the patients of a spider. We do not consume their bodys but breath new life into their souls..."
He placed a fatwa on the Kurdish people last month and from that 35 Kurdish children were slaughtered and in Au. A Kurdish woman was beaten by two of his followers. Some were arrested and tossed into prison.
Not really anyone who should be around children. In my opinion they are monsters who pretend to be nice. In fact it is just plain creepy.
Gulen Inspired Charter Schools - Teachers with guns.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=SUTd5DV3RMg
Gulen Charter Schools Whirling Dervish & Occult Sufism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfcmV7n7f0M
In case you missed it here is the original news article about the FBI investigations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZtg9jfVZb

**annie** · 04-21-2012, 06:19 PM

The presentation by the CEO and board member was, in a word, bumbling. One of them bragged about having a Wharton MBA and then proceeded to make some incredibly stupid and inaccurate statements which the SRC members quickly called him on. Not at all surprising when they voted to start the nonrenewal process. Kind of hard to get in a panic about the Gulen movement when the alleged Philly incarnation seems to be the opposite of slick.

**Darleen** · 04-22-2012, 04:50 PM

I think everyone should stop talking on behalf of parents, teachers and the students.

Watch these videos and hear what parents really think about the school:

Town Hall Meeting with Hon. Senator Shirley Kitchen » Truebright Science Academy Charter School

**annie** · 04-22-2012, 08:32 PM

You know, Rev. Wright's testimony might hold more water if he hadn't admitted that the school administration gave him false information for his prior SRC testimony and then continued to defend them.

**annie** · 07-13-2012, 09:52 AM

Days before charter hearing, Truebright fired 8 teachers - Philly.com

One-third of Truebright's teachers and administrators are Turkish, and most are working in this country on nonimmigrant visas. Those teachers appear to have kept their jobs at the school, which will continue to operate during at least the 2012-13 school year.

The teachers who received certified letters July 3 saying they had lost their jobs were U.S. citizens.

Many of the American instructors Truebright let go were among nine teachers and administrators who filed complaints last year with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging they were being paid less than noncertified Turkish staffers. Those cases are pending.

**seand** · 07-13-2012, 11:19 AM

I'm much more concerned about the Gulen movement as a scam to defraud Philadelphia taxpayers while violating the constitutional rights of its non-Gulen teachers then of them as a secret Islamicist conspiracy. And so far it seems you don't have to be very slick at all to rip off the SRC. Bringing down the Great Satan (if it really was their goal, which I very much doubt) seems well beyond their capacity.

How can this place continue to receive taxpayer funding?

**annie** · 07-13-2012, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by seand

How can this place continue to receive taxpayer funding?

Charter law allows schools to remain open during the year they have their non-renewal hearings. If the student enrollment drops enough, they may not have the funds to remain open throughout.

**annie** · 07-14-2012, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by seand

And so far it seems you don't have to be very slick at all to rip off the SRC.

To clarify, they seem to be the kind of "not slick" that also didn't think to buy off any major Philly politicians or powerbrokers.

**annie** · 10-01-2012, 09:45 AM

Philly School District seeks testimony to decide Truebright charter school's fate

The Philadelphia School District is trying to compel a former administrator from the Truebright Science Academy Charter School to testify during a hearing on whether the school should remain open.

The district filed documents last week in Common Pleas Court seeking a subpoena to force Susan Farley-Ellison, who had been a high-ranking administrator, to testify about the school's operations at a charter-renewal hearing.

The North Philadelphia charter school, which is linked to a controversial Turkish imam, is fighting to remain open. In April, the School Reform Commission said it would not grant the school a new operating charter on 18 grounds, including poor academic performance and lack of certified teachers.

Former Truebright exec ordered to testify

A Common Pleas Court judge issued a subpoena Thursday to compel Susan Farley-Ellison to testify when charter-renewal hearings resume in October.

She was the highest-ranking American administrator Truebright ever had. This should be interesting.

**JackStraw** · 10-01-2012, 10:31 PM

Originally Posted by Darleen

I think everyone should stop talking on behalf of parents, teachers and the students.

Watch these videos and hear what parents really think about the school:

Town Hall Meeting with Hon. Senator Shirley Kitchen » Truebright Science Academy Charter School

No one is pretending to speak on the behalf of the students, teacher or whatever, but as taxpayers who refuse to fund a foreign cult that discriminates against American workers.