Should Massachusetts be afraid of Fethullah Gulen? That’s the question at the heart of the whispering campaign against the Pioneer Charter School of Science, a high-achieving public school in Everett whose loose connections to the influential Turkish religious figure came under heightened scrutiny when it sought state permission to expand to a second location in Saugus.
Gulen is a moderate Muslim cleric who emphasizes science and whose followers have started schools worldwide, including hundreds of charter schools in the United States. Pioneer’s director, Barish Icin, says the Everett school isn’t connected to Gulen, but some of the school’s choices suggest at least a casual link; the school has hired 16 Turkish science, math, or technology teachers with temporary visas, though only four are currently on the school’s staff. It has also contracted with a law firm tied to the Gulen movement.
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More charter school baloney from McGrory. Exactly what new techniques did this charer school bring to tha state? Drive down through the stats and you find the answer. What a bag job.
When you say "Drive down through the stats", what do you mean? Have you done that and discovered something unusual or alarming, or something that contradicts the stated results?
Would you be willing to explain what you meant?
My son attends PCSS, and i have first hand knowlege of how good this school is and how dedicated the staff are.if you compare it the public school systems in the area, you'll notice the big difference. This whispering campaing, as the editorial calls it, is misguided at best and xenophobic at worst. The teachers union sees this school as a competitor that unviels public school teachers shortcomings, and to descredit PCSS they are using a trick from the reliable islamophobia playbook, it works everytime.
This fabricated outrage is coming from people that know nothing about this school, as a parent i'm happy about my school choice for my kid.
Stats are on the web page. Why do I have to do the research for you an excuse to remain ignorant of the issues? 360 students across 6 grads, hardly a representative sample if the communitIes representedd by the student body. weeed out less proficient students through rules and performance requirements. He k they have required home visits to evaluate the home environment . Read the info the school provides and rhe. Tell me two things 1. Is the student body representaive of the student bodies in the community served ? What innovations did this school contribute to the state. doesn't look like this school is anything more than a de-facto prep school making money at the expense of the student population as a whole.
36 students from highly motivated homes proves nothing. This school is no better than any other school that teaches small numbers while actually allowing school personel to visit homes and evaluate the home environment. So what happens if the home is found wanting and the parents aren't able to measure up? Do we remove the child from the school or from the home? I am reminded of the comments from a teacher from a prestgious western suburb when asked to explain why his students did so much better on MCAS than those from a highly disadvantaged inner city school. He replied that if you were to drop him into the city school and replace him with the teacher from the city, the scores would probably be the same. There is no secret, folks. I can say I never met a teacher who started his day saying, "I hope these kids don't learn anything today." Get the politicians out of the schools. Let the teachers teach.
Amen
Then I read, in the Globe, that Pioneer was looking into acquiring the former Weylu’s Chinese Restaurant on Route 1 as a possible location for Pioneer Charter II, my curiosity was sparked, I had to check it out. This property is listed for$10.75 million, and several buyers are lined up to purchase it. Even though Pioneer is now out of the running for the property, where was the money going to come from, to even entertain this purchase?
Is Pioneer affiliated with a non-profit foundation that is willing to buy the property and pick up the tab to cover such costs as fees for legal, project management, and architecture and renovation expenses, and then lease it back to Pioneer? Were they planning to approach Mass Development, the state’s finance and development authority, for a tax-exempt bond? If that was the case, it didn’t appear in the Pioneers Charter School application. Was there any thought by Pioneer that, in addition to taking a million dollars to service 72 Saugus students, they would be taking a valuable piece of tax generating property off the Saugus roll?
In Massachusetts, we graduate thousands of teachers from our excellent colleges and universities each year. Last summer at a UP Charter in Boston, 4,100 certified teachers interviewed for 58 positions. So I find it difficult to believe, and unacceptable, that 16 teaching positions were filled from outside the United States, at Pioneer Charter School of Science, when we have qualified unemployed teachers right here in Massachusetts. I do not think it is a good use of public education funds to pay the $84,215 on legal and immigration-related fees.
How many of the original 16 Pioneer teachers with temporary H1B, B-1, and L1 visas were certified to teach in Massachusetts? How many had taken and passed the MTEL. How many were teaching on a waiver? How many were teaching in their subject area? As of Pioneers last report to the MADOE 2010-11 only 56.7%, out of 27.7 teachers, were licensed in their teaching assignment! In Saugus Public Schools 99.5 are licensed in their teaching assignment. In the state 97.5 are licensed in their teaching assignment.
Recent research by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) finds over half (54%) of all workers brought in through the H1B visa program are being paid at the lowest level. After I read the GAO article, I wondered about the 16 foreign born Pioneer teachers. Were these new comers to Massachusetts “modern indentured servants”?
I went into more detail about it here:
http://bluemassgroup.com/2013/03/outsourcing-massachusetts-charter-school-teaching-jobs-say-it-isnt-so/
"If this is foreign interference in American education, maybe we need more." I think we need to be open-minded as the author suggests in this article. Get real! If the statistics indicate that the school is doing a great job, if the parents who have the first-hand knowledge on the school are happy with the school, then it is a good thing. Nothing comes free. If we need to pay some dollars to import couple foreign teachers, so be it. If they do something wrong, there are state officials watching over their every action.
As the parent of a PCSS student, I know what a difference the school makes for the children who attend it. I have another child in another school who argues that schooling and education have no business going beyond MCAS requirements. I am busy making sure that that child too, gets to go to Pioneer Charter School of Science some day. My child started out focusing on surviving school, but thanks to PCSS, has discovered that the sky is the limit.
As a citizen of this great nation, it makes me sad that in 2013 we still have to defend against alleged "loose ties" to an influential figure, before we even get a chance to acknowledge the great achievement of the school AND our children.
The concern, is bluntly stated as follows: The alleged connection is to someone who happens to be Turkish, and Moslem. In case one wonders, it is clearly stated that this person is described as a moderate.
So, "loose ties"? I don't know, and I don't care. I do care, however, that there is so much talk about this stuff. It is wrong. Would this have made a difference if the alleged ties were to some other nationality or religion, or if the leadership and visas were from another country of origin?
Rather, I'm concerned about the LOOSE TALK of the purpose of their home visits and the not so thinly veiled xenophobia. My family is not represented in said nationality or religion. We just hate to see the distortion and the fearmongering invoved, and at such a great school, no less.
I hope that with the final approval in place now, all this noise will die down. I want the school to keep doing what it does best.
The data indicates that the Pioneer School of Science returns 50% of their students back into traditional public schools. I am concerned about the quality of the charter school teaching staff, being paid for with taxpayer dollars, right here is Massachusetts. Again, as of Pioneers last report to the MADOE 2010-11 only 56.7%, out of 27.7 teachers, were licensed in their teaching assignment! In Saugus Public Schools 99.5 are licensed in their teaching assignment. In the state 97.5 are licensed in their teaching assignment. When a teacher passes Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) program we are ensured that the educator can communicate adequately with students, parents/guardians, and other educators and that they are knowledgeable in the subject matter. If 50% of Pioneer students are not being successful at their school is seems to me that Pioneer teachers are admitting that they are not qualified, or can’t be bothered, to teach them. So these banished Pioneer students are returned to traditional public schools where those teachers not only have educate them in their subject area, but also deal with the considerable psychological fallout from the student’s loss of community. This is not equitable, Pioneer Charter is not a private school, it is a public charter school paid for with public taxpayer dollars!