Peoria's Quest Charter School is part of the Gulen Movement from Turkey

PEORIA -- The new Quest Charter School in Peoria District 150 is definitely part of the controversial Gulen movement of Turkey, which has established over 100 schools in the US. Here's proof.

When the Peoria Chamber of Commerce executive director Rob Parks recently told WMBD-TV that there was no link between the Gulen movement and the Quest school, she obviously didn't know what she was talking about. Would Parks lie to the press?  It's not illegal, but we'll assume ignorance, instead. 

Other Peoria media have so far ignored this story -- likely afraid to offend Caterpillar, Inc., which pushed for this school.

Briefly, here's the evidence of the connection, as cited in the link above and other links and comments in the June 8 blog post below.

1. The principal of the school is named Engin Karatas, and he is using the last name 'Blackstone,' which is what 'Karatas' means in Turkish. Apparently he is not a US citizen, but likely has a visa to work in the US.(Let's hope so!)

The Illinois State Board of Education and the Peoria Regional Office have no information on Karatas/Blackstone, and -- get this -- no credentials are required for charter school principals! 

So a person overseeing substantial tax funds and the education of public school pupils is not required to have any educational credentials in Illinois -- a severe weakness in the law.

Karatas/Blackstone's resume, on file with the Peoria school district, contains at least one false statement. It says he was a  " Math teacher at Baku Private College, Baku, Azerbaijan from 1997-2000 (Math Department Chair)."  But there's no listing of this school on a list of schools in Baku.

That's because it's not a college. A watchdog for the Gulen movement writes:

"The school in question is Bakü Özel Türk Lisesi  (written in Turkish)   or     Bakı Özəl Türk Liseyi  (in Azerbaijani language)

 

"Here's the explanation:

High schools in that part of the world are called "Lisesi" (related to French word "lycee" for high school) or "Koleji"  (etymologically similar to college).  So Blackstone/Karatas (or someone) decided to translate "lisesi" as "college."

Özel  means private.  You'll find this in the name of numerous Gulen schools.  They're private - of course, the better to charge steep tuition.

"This is a Gulen school.  Note it is on our list of international schools:

http://turkishinvitations.weebly.com/every-continent-but-antarctica.html

and that page also gives a link to the umbrella organization that school, and other Gulen schools in Azerbaijan, are under, namely Cağ Öğretim İşletmeleri A.O.   http://www.cag.edu.az/

2.  Concept Schools, the parent not-for-profit of Quest charter school, is a Gulen organization. Concept's model and language on its websites is the same as that used by openly Gulen schools.

Concept Schools sponsored a Gulen dinner in the United Arab Emirates in 2009.

An official with Concept Schools,  Ergun "Eric" Koyuncu, is also part of the Gulen movement.

3. Concept Schools itself is controversial. Here are facts from the watchdogs:

"Concept Schools- NFP (Illinois corporation)
Concept Schools previously existed in Illinois under the name Concept Schools NFP.  One IRS Form 990 is available for that company showing Vedat Akgun as Board President and Huseyin Kara as board member; the names of Murat Arabaci and Kazim Eldes also appear.  On the website of the Secretary of State of Illinois, it can be seen that Concept Schools NFP was incorporated in 2002, with agent name Sedat Duman. Other noteworthy points are that the Form 990 shows a "bad debt writeoff" of $450,000 and loans to Horizon and Noble schools.  An amount of $329,060 is shown as due to Breeze, a for-profit company owned by Board President Vedat Akgun.  An application for Indiana Math and Science Academy - East, a proposed charter school, dated Dec 2, 2009 confirms that "Breeze provides facility services to Concept-managed schools."  There is also an amount of $100,000 due to "Silver Memory;" it is unclear what this entity is.  No further Form 990s for this corporation are available; the reason, according to the IRS, is that Concept Schools - NFP failed to prove that it qualifies for 501(c)3 status."

What is going on here?

1. PROFITS. Watchdog websites speculate that the Gulen movement is using US charter schools to make money, by purchasing supplies with tax funds from its affiliated companies.

2. RELIGION. Though Illinois law bans charter schools from promoting religious doctrine, Gulan is Islamist, and children from the schools are taken to Turkey were they likely are exposed to Islam.Turkish teachers hired by these schools also typically are Muslims. (Why are Turkish teachers being hired while US teachers are being laid off?)

3. INFLUENCE.  Why would Caterpillar, Inc. push for this and funnel money to the Gulen movement's school?  Is this a quid-pro-quo -- a school in Peoria giving the Gulen movement access to tax funds in return for lucrative contracts in Turkey and it's allies for Caterpillar? 

This is a complicated story, involving difficult names and languages and nations not readily familiar to US citizens and taxpayers.

The many excellent watchdog websites spell it out, based on facts.

It's mind boggling that Peoria District 150 has gotten involved with this movement, under investigation in Ohio, when other options for talented math and science students could have been funded instead.  Stay tuned.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

 Update 6/19/11.  For unbelievers:  read this story from the May 28 issue of the  New York Times.

  Update No. 2 -- 6/19/11.  The Gulen-connected Chicago Math and Science Academy claims it is not a public school, even though it is a charter school.  See an interesting story from the Chicago Reader, which also notes how the school is resisting a union and has fired union organizers.

 

 

 

Comments

[C. J. Summers]

The websites/blogs you cite have no contact information and do not identify the author(s) of the articles. How do you know the information is accurate?

[Elaine Hopkins]

These websites rely on facts. I have also had email contact with the people who have done the research.

Their websites rely on and refer to published stories in the mainstream media, which presumably have no reason to lie. The story about the Ohio investigations of Gulen schools comes from mainstream media there.

The comment above from 'Matthew' is a reasonable response, eg no conspiracy, but... I find the whole Gulen-charter school connection very odd. If Gulen wants to set up private schools, fine. If it wants tax money for charter schools, that's a whole new ballgame -- one that may be rigged.

[Get a Life]

Your #1 bit of proof is that the Quest principal anglicized his first name? Does that mean that my grandfather was part of some great Italian conspiracy to hijack the building of hospitals?

There may be a connection between Gulen and Quest, Elaine, but much of what you are doing is called "dog whistling." "Honey, our kids are being taught by Mooooslims!"

[Elaine Hopkins]

The Quest principal is using a last name, Blackstone, that is not his name.

And don't you wonder why Turkish figures would establish a network of public charter schools in the USA?

The Illinois Charter School Act forbids teaching religion in these public schools. But what about the trips to Turkey?

See the many links on the 2 blog posts to realize what these people are up to: likely money, religion, and influence. Using tax dollars.

[Truthful]

I don't think this article reflects the truths. The following website explains the situation really well

Gulen Charter Schools

[Truthful]

sorry the link is here:

http://www.getthefact.com/gulen-charter-schools/rosetta-stone-gulen-charter-schools.html

[GooseNetworkUSA]

To learn more about the Gulen operation in Illinois you must look to the Gulen NGOs that surround the schools. For instance in the midwest, the Gulen ran and operated Concept Schools out of Ohio manages the Gulen Charter Schools in the Midwest (Including the troubled Chicago Math and Science Academy -CMSA as well as Gulenist ran Quest Charter Academy in Peoria, IL)
Concept Schools is currently under investigation in OHIO for it's Turkocentric business practices and other financial mismanagment.
They recently paid the state back $13,000 which was Educational funds used to pay for the families of h1-b visa employees.

Look at the money trail of Quest Charter Academy.
http://www.horizonparentstruth.blogspot.com

[GooseNetworkUSA]

Another good site to research news and LEGAL issues of the Concept schools is called
Charter School Watchdog.

This site is by ex-teachers of the Gulen managed Ohio based Horizon Science Academies.

http://www.charterschoolwatchdog.com

Particularly read "See Sam Squirm" refering to Salim Ucan who is one of the big cheeses at Concept Schools which manages Quest Charter Academy in Peoria, IL.

There is so much proof on these Gulen Charter Schools even Ray Charles could see it.

[gmtracker]

Great reporting, Elaine. It's obviously drawn the Gulenists to your site, who are trying to do damage control by challenging what you've written, and by directing people to their lame websites. BTW, they will NEVER confess their affiliation, or reveal their true intentions. Gulen has taught them well about "keeping secrets."
http://www.fethullahgulen.org/pearls-of-wisdom/639-keeping-secrets.html

Check out this BBC piece about the GM. It doesn't get into their charter school involvement in the U.S., but gives a decent overview of the controversies and concerns.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izjnSb0owbI&feature=related
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eD19xG-7rM&feature=related
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72Vwt_LIrAc&feature=related

This will be a new and complicated story for people in Peoria to wrap their heads around, but they'll start to catch on once they read your links and learn things like how the mission statement of their local charter school (run by Concept, operator of the Horizon schools) is exactly the same as Moonlight International School, a Gulen school in South Africa run by Horizon Educational Trust.
http://www.questpeoria.org/?page_id=287
http://www.moonlightschool.co.za/wabout.php
http://gulenconference.org.uk/userfiles/file/Proceedings/Prcd%20-%20Mohamed,%20Y.pdf

[gmtracker]

Concerned individuals absolutely MUST follow these two on Twitter!!!

http://twitter.com/#!/CASILIPS
http://twitter.com/#!/notdeleted