Gulen charter schools in Oklahoma

STATE	# ACTIVE	# PENDING	# INACTIVE*	TOTAL
OK	4	0	0	4

* Denied, withdrawn, closed, or unknown status

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TOTAL ENROLLMENT IN 2010-2011 = 1557 STUDENTS

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SCHOOLS

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DOVE SCIENCE ACADEMY-TULSA
Status	ACTIVE, opened in 2000
Management	Sky Foundation, in partnership with the Cosmos Foundation
Authorizer	Langston University (in exchange for 5% of the school’s funding). Tulsa Public Schools was the original sponsor but denied DSA’s renewal in 2009.
Location/District	280 South Memorial Drive, Tulsa /Tulsa Public Schools
Website	http://dsatulsa.org/
Enrollment	Grades 6-12; 2010-11 enrollment = 395
Notes	In 2005, TPS ordered the school to stop screening students. http://www.redorbit.com/news/education/223280/charter_school_revises_practice/index.html ; the Tulsa school board unanimously voted to deny renewal in October 2009 (“Citing concerns about services for special education students...” etc.), then gave the school a one year extension; http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=298&articleid=20091026_298_0_Citing976068 Principal: Abidin Erez

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DOVE SCIENCE ACADEMY-OKC
Status	ACTIVE, opened in 2001
Management	Sky Foundation, in partnership with the Cosmos Foundation
Authorizer	Oklahoma City Public Schools
Location/District	919 Northwest 23rd Street, Oklahoma City / Oklahoma City Public Schools
Website	http://www.dsaokc.org/
Enrollment	Grades 6-12; 2010-11 enrollment = 458
Notes	Principal: Barbaras Aslan; Executive Director: Kaan Camuz

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DOVE SCIENCE ACADEMY ELEMENTARY-OKC
Status	ACTIVE, opened in 2008
Management	Sky Foundation, in partnership with the Cosmos Foundation
Authorizer	Oklahoma City Public Schools
Location/District	4901 N. Lincoln Boulevard, Oklahoma City / Oklahoma City Public Schools
Website	http://www.dsaelementary.org/
Enrollment	Grade K-5; 2010-11 enrollment = 304
Notes	Principal: Hasan Suzuk; Executive Director: Kaan Camuz

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DISCOVERY SCHOOL OF TULSA
Status	ACTIVE, opened in 2009
Management	Sky Foundation, in partnership with the Cosmos Foundation
Authorizer	Langston University
Location	4821 South 72nd East Avenue, Tulsa
Website	http://www.discoveryok.org/
Enrollment	Grades K-8; 2010-11 enrollment = 400
Notes	Principal: Fevzi Simsek; Executive Director: Kaan Camuz (2011) http://sde.state.ok.us/Schools/CharterSch/pdf/CharterSchCon.pdf

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MANAGEMENT

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SKY FOUNDATION, INC. dba DOVE SCIENCE ACADEMY
Federal Tax ID	EIN 731578930
Website	None
History	Schools chartered “by Turkish immigrants studying at Oklahoma State University.” (The Oklahoman, 1/1/2006); “...the founders of the school had the vision of creating a place that emphasized math and science...” (NewsOK, 3/28/2011);
Individuals involved	Names appearing on Sky Foundation Form 990s (2002-2009): Birol Furat, Birol Ozturk, A.Y. [Ali Yavuz] Zeybek, Elvan Ceyhan, Fevzi Simsek, Gultekin Kaya, Hakan Yagci, Halil Ibrahim Tas, Hasan Buzuk, Ihsan Kara, Ilhan Guzey, Can Topuz, Kamil Celik, Orhan Kucukosman, Volkan Cicek, Ilker Gure, Yalcin Akyildiz, Zekeriya Yuksel, and Zeynei Gunay.
Notes	Until 2009, the Form 990s listed the address is 4444 N. Classen Blvd., Oklahoma City. Also listed at this address is the Oklahoma City branch of Raindrop Turkish House, a regional Gulenist “cultural” organization.

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PARTNER ORGANIZATION

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COSMOS FOUNDATION / HARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Federal Tax ID	EIN 76-0615245
Website	http://www.cosmostx.org/
Services	Cosmos gets 3% of the Sky Foundation’s annual state funding because of their “Support Service Agreement.”
Individuals involved	Names appearing on IRS Form 990s (2002 to 2009): Ali Tekin, Bilal Akin, Burhanettin Kuruscu, Cengizhan Keskin, Cocksun Cetinkaya, Ellen A. MacDonald, Fatih Yigit, Gokturk Tunc, Ibrahim Sel, Iker Gure, Ismet S. Isik, Kadir Almus, Kudbettin Aksoy, Levent Bulut, Lynn Mitchell, Mehmet Okumus, Mustafa Atik, Mustafa Guvercin, Mustafa Ozen, Nihat Guvercin, Oner Ulvi Celepicikay, Ozgur Ozer, Selahattin Aydin, Soner Tarim, Tevik Eski, Umit Pecin, Yetkin Yildirim

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Learn more about the Cosmos Foundation / Harmony Public Schools HERE and HERE and HERE.
• More about the Discovery School of Tulsa HERE. http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/2010/10/discovery-school-of-tulsa.html
• More about Dove Science Academy – Tulsa HERE. http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/2010/06/dove-science-academy-tulsa.html

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Harmony Science Academy - Houston Northwest

“Texas Charter School Accused of Racism.” Courthouse News Service, 12/13/2012

HOUSTON (CN) - A Houston charter school made minority students clean toilets with toothbrushes, and a teacher told an 8-year-old student "she could not be in the front of the line .... because black people should be in the back of the line," her parents claim in Federal Court.

Darrel and Donna Davis sued the Harmony Science Academy NW, three of its teachers, its principal and assistant principal on behalf of their daughter, L.

The Davises say they "began to notice extreme moods of sadness and withdrawal from their daughter" in December 2010.

They say L "began to express horror at returning to Harmony Science Academy and that she wanted to transfer."..

The Davises claims the principal, Mr. Coban, "has acted with indifference and has had numerous complaints of discrimination towards minority, specifically a televised news piece that discovered that the teachers had minority students cleaning toilets with toothbrushes."

Houston's CBS affiliate KHOU 11 News broadcast a story in October in which a parent said the Harmony Science Academy NW punished her daughter, a fourth-grader, by making her clean toilets, baseboards and floors with a disinfectant wipe, and no gloves...

The Davises seek punitive damages for civil rights violations...

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“Outraged mother says daughter forced to scrub school toilets for tardies.” KHOU 11 News (TX), 10/5/2011

HOUSTON -- Parents of some students at the Harmony Science Academy Charter School in Northwest Harris County say their children were forced to clean restrooms as punishment.

Monica Lane said her daughter, Meagan, a fourth grade student at the school, was punished to Saturday school for getting five tardies. However, Lane said Meagan did not get not extra time in the classroom, but got time in the restroom.

"Yeah it was gross," said Meagan Dunn.

She was not alone, her mother said.

"Kids, as young as second grade, were scrubbing the toilets on Saturday," Lane said. "The baseboards and walls, and the door handles and the floors."

Meagan said the cleaning duties were done using just a disinfectant wipe and no gloves.

Administrators at the Harmony Science Academy issued a statement on the matter saying:

"Never under any circumstances is any student required or expected to clean the restrooms at any of our facilities."

The school said it encourages students to do chores to help them to care for their community. The school admitted that students did clean restrooms, but said it was just an inappropriate joke from a teacher taken literally by some students.

"How would you feel as a parent if your child was made to scrub the toilet without any kind of gloves, without any parent knowledge," Lane asked.

Beside the obvious cleanliness issues, Meagan’s parents wondered about the lost educational opportunity.

“That could have been a time for tutoring or going over some of the class work or something like that," said Lane.

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Harmony Science Academy - Lubbock

“Incident leads LISD officials to have concerns about Harmony.” Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX), 8/27/2007

School districts in Lubbock say they're not concerned about a loss of state dollars if students transfer to a new charter school.

Public school systems lose state funds for student attendance when pupils transfer out, according to the Texas Education Agency. Harmony Science Academy-Lubbock opens today with about 250 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Lubbock Independent School District officials said they're concerned about something else: The issue stems from an incident at Hodges Elementary School earlier this year, but Harmony said it did nothing wrong.

Nancy Sharp, a district spokeswoman, said Harmony representatives entered Hodges shortly after school had ended. They started to ask teachers questions about students and demographics and refused to check in at the school office.

Sharp said LISD police and the FBI were notified. She couldn't provide a police report, and an FBI agent declined to deny or confirm the claim. The district also contacted the media about the incident.

"Our interaction [with Harmony] has been puzzling," Sharp said. "Our interaction has not been on the professional level we would expect from educators."

Harmony principal Gultekin Kaya denied the allegation...

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East End Community Heritage School

“A school reform experiment that went on too long.” Cincinnati.com (OH), 10/16/2011

In 2000, the East End Community Heritage School, a charter school, opened with 186 students and a promise to better educate children with Appalachian roots and keep them in school to graduation.

In fact, its contract said 85 percent of students would pass Ohio proficiency tests within three years, a rate to rival top suburban schools...

Three years later, it was in Academic Emergency. Its achievement was so low by 2006 that CPS dropped out as sponsor. By 2010 - with 99 students - it was put on a "watch list" by the state.

Last week, the state named it one of 15 charter schools that must raise its scores or close by 2013.

How could such poor performance go on for so long?

Incredibly, the school may have survived because of its lack of success.

The state says charters must close if they've been in academic emergency for at least two of the three most recent years. But if schools have fewer than 10 students in a grade, the state doesn't include their composite scores on the state report card - or give the school a ranking.

That's what happened to EECHS in 2009 and 2010.

Even though it was in Academic Emergency in 2007 and 2008, the school managed to stay open apparently because it drew so few children, despite more than a decade of poor results...

The most expensive part is that for 11 years taxpayers have poured money into a school that performed worse than the public schools it was created to help "reform." Every other CPS school in Bond Hill, where the school relocated in 2006, has a higher state ranking.

Meanwhile, the school at one point was more than $300,000 in debt, which it has whittled down to $80,000 now...

In 2009, as EECHS hit other milestones of having the lowest percentage of highly qualified teachers in the region and a 10 percent graduation rate, an Ohio Department of Education spokesman assured taxpayers, "We're not going to continue pumping money into failing charters. If we can see the writing on the wall ... (we try) to stop the bleeding and give those students an option of going somewhere else."

But EECHS bled on...

But EECHS's story is not over, and it would be an oversight not to point out that the school - finally - might face its best chance for success.

Former CPS superintendent Michael Brandt, hired by the school's board of directors as a consultant, is overseeing a major overhaul of the curriculum, staff and daily operations at the school and has brought in former Hillcrest Training School Superintendent William Hamilton as principal.

They've replaced more than half the staff, increased the school day to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., introduced a new college-readiness curriculum, and won a $360,000 state improvement grant and $61,000 Race to the Top federal grant for improvement.

The turnaround would be good news, but 11 years overdue...

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California charter schools (problems w/oversight)

"Chief of state’s charter school division stepping down.” EdSource (CA), 10/14/2011 (bolding added)

The California Department of Education is looking for a replacement for the chief of its charter school division, who is leaving her post after 18 months on the job.

The departure of Beth Hunkapiller at the end of October comes at a time of continuing expansion of charter schools in California. At the same time, the state faces considerable pressures regarding oversight of state and federal dollars, especially at start-up charter schools.  It is also examining its capacity to oversee 31 charter schools authorized by the State Board of Education between 2000 and 2010...

In 1992, she signed the petition for the first school granted a charter in the state—the San Carlos Learning Center. It was also the first school founded by Aspire, which with 34 schools is now the largest charter school company in the state. Hunkapiller served a stint as the chair of the Aspire board of directors, and was chair of the State Board’s Advisory Commission on Charter Schools.  She has also been an elected member of the San Carlos School District board for the past 19 years.

But as the Little Hoover Commission noted in a report last year, there has been significant turnover in the Charter School Division staff, including in its leadership. Since 2004, it has had three directors, including Hunkapiller.

At the last State Board of Education meeting, Richard Zeiger, the Department of Education’s chief deputy superintendent, announced that tens of millions of dollars in state and federal funds have been lost by start-up charter schools that either never opened or closed within a year or two of opening.  At that meeting, Hunkapiller told the board that oversight procedures, especially of federal grants as high as $575,000 to beginning charter schools, should be stronger.

Hunkapiller said  yesterday that now-closed charter schools have defaulted on $5.5 million from the state’s Charter School Revolving Loan Fund, which gives loans of up to $250,000 mainly to start-up charter schools.  She said the defaults occurred primarily in the early years of the program, but have increased again ”in the last year or two.”

State law requires charters to pay off their loans over five years, but if a school closes before that time, collecting on the loan has turned out to be exceedingly difficult if not impossible.

Hunkapiller said the Charter School Division also had to go through a rigorous federal audit in August in which federal auditors spent weeks in Sacramento looking at what happened to federal funds granted to charter schools that have closed their doors.

The report is due in January...

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LaMensa Academy Next Generation Charter School

“Palm Beach Gardens charter elementary school struggles to meet 100-student enrollment goal.” Palm Beach Post (FL), 10/9/2011

PALM BEACH GARDENS — Brand-new textbooks sit stacked on desks in the brightly lit classrooms at LaMensa Academy Next Generation Charter School. Most have never been opened. And most of the small blue and red chairs have never been occupied by students.

The new Palm Beach Gardens charter school's enrollment has fallen well below its expected 100 students this fall. As of Wednesday, it had only 13 children registered.

Now LaMensa's founder and administrators are scrambling to boost enrollment by Friday, when the state will do a student count to determine how much money each school or district will receive.

If LaMensa doesn't reach that goal, the school must come up with a plan to avoid being closed.

"We're looking to get to at least 100 in a week," said Pamela Patterson, its principal. "That's a pretty big goal, but that doesn't mean it can't be accomplished."

Enrollment is already up from the first few weeks of school, when LaMensa's student body stood at five. The school urged their parents to talk to people about the K-3 charter and persuade them to enroll their children...

"We're letting people know there's another school, another option out there," Patterson said. " I believe in miracles."

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Key West Collegiate School

“Principal reverses resignation but it's too late.” Florida Keys Keynoter, 10/15/2011

Key West Collegiate School Principal Debra Remsen, who resigned on Oct. 3 after the school's board started questioning her qualifications, now says she hasn't resigned.

But apparently she's out anyway because the board on Wednesday put her on 10-day suspension and is already reviewing applications from two dozen people expressing interest in replacing her...

Early into the first-year school's term, board members began questioning Remsen's qualifications, even having School District Superintendent Jesus Jara come in to talk about the experience and certifications principals must have.

Board Chairwoman Winnie DeMent, whose daughter attends the school, said Remsen requested administrative training, leading the board to find that she is not a state-certified principal...

In addition to her qualifications, Remsen has caught flack for posting on Facebook on Oct. 7 a resignation letter from social studies teacher Mark Peterson in which he was highly critical of the board's management...

There's more amiss at the school than just the administrator position.

A financial update from board member Cali Roberts indicates that Key West Collegiate will end its financial year in 2012 with a $71,000 deficit; the startup funding totals $321,000. And after being in operation for seven weeks, the six teachers are still working without contracts.

"The school is in crisis," DeMent said.

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