A new
documentary on the Gülen Movement, a mysterious Islamic group operating charter
schools throughout the US, premieres today and runs through March 31st at the
Cinema Village Theatre in NYC. A pre-release screening earlier this month with
translation into Spanish, Korean and Vietnamese drew a diverse crowd of 980 and
a standing ovation in L.A. Yet this national film, a bi-coastal sensation, was
passed over by Texas’ four largest film festivals and the state’s media.
“It’s very
disappointing for me that the first public screening could not happen in Texas,
my home state and the epicenter for this issue,” said Mark Hall, the
documentary’s independent director and producer. Hall added,
This was a very difficult film to
make because these people don’t want to be on camera, they wouldn’t be
interviewed. The subject of charter schools is also very difficult because most
people don’t want to criticize the school ‘reform’ movement. Killing Ed is not
necessarily a ‘cinematic’ film, but the purpose of an exposé is to reveal
something that the populace needs to be aware of.
A film about
the worst-case scenario for privately-owned and operated schools funded by
public tax dollars - one that exposes the underbelly of a charter school
movement that is apparently funding a known Islamist group’s interests, no less
- hits a lot of nerves, which has people in power keeping their distance.
Among the facts
uncovered in KILLING ED, the Gülen
Movement, which is operated by followers of Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah
Gülen, has been identified as a ‘terrorist organization’ by the Turkish
government. The movement is under FBI investigation in four states and receives
over $500 million in taxpayer-funded revenue each year to operate charter
schools in the U.S., which now number more than 150 schools (with 12 new
schools applied for) enrolling 60,000 students annually.
Granted, the
intent of the film is not to take issue with all charters schools, but rather
focuses on the worst-case scenario. But isn’t examination of more than 100
charter schools run by a Turkish imam in the United States warranted as we
explore educational reform? After all, the Gülen charter chain is the largest
of its kind in America, employing approximately 5,000 Turkish employees brought
over on H1-B visas - many of whom are un-certified, untrained teachers - to
teach American children.
Gülen
charters also use taxpayer dollars to give preferential support to affiliated
businesses ranging from catering and construction to school furniture and
curriculum development. The schools advertise heavily and sponsor events,
creating income for media outlets, lobbyists, and consultants. Perhaps the
reason why so few seem interested in reporting on this is that the Gülen
Movement has sponsored hundreds of trips to Turkey for politicians and
journalists, inciting a congressional investigation yet dampening the urgency
to inform the public about a dangerous trend.
“Thousands of
people have been on these propaganda trips to Turkey,” said Sharon Higgins,
co-founder of Parents
Across America and an expert on the
Gülen charter schools.
This New York
Times article is one of the few major
news stories on the Gülen Movement over the past 5 years. In it, Stephanie Saul
chronicles the activities concerning just one of the Turkish Gülen-affiliated
contractors operating in Texas. In the film, you see the abuses from another
contractor, Solidarity Contracting of Houston, which built several schools in
the state, including the Harmony School of Political Science and Communication
in Austin.
“Solidarity
has gone out of business and no one knows what happened to the owner of the
company, a Gülen follower named Levent Ulusal,” said Hall.
Since viewing
the film, I have my own ideas as to why my fellow Texans would ignore this, but
quality isn’t one of them. In its short life, the documentary has garnered
acclaim from educated stakeholders and experts in the film industry. KILLING ED
has been nominated for a Best Documentary jury prize at the upcoming Julien
Dubuque International Film Festival.
Furthermore,
in a letter from the director of acquisitions for the Tallgrass Film Festival,
Shan Jabara hailed the film “a hit” at Tallgrass. In the following excerpt,
Jabara urged the Dallas International Film Festival to screen it:
KILLING ED enjoyed a preview
screening at our last festival...and aroused great interest and concern for the
subject of the Gulen Movement’s charter schools and their rapid expansion. Most
of our audience had no knowledge of this crusade, although there are a handful
of local professors who had traveled to Turkey as guests of an organization
that is connected to the Gulen Movement. The professors were very supportive of
the organization as they were well-treated and there was no attempt at
indoctrination. However, they seemed to have no idea that U.S. tax dollars were
supporting the Movement’s chartered schools and that they were poorly run,
non-student centered and corrupt institutions opening up around the country. We
have educators on our prescreening and programming committees that were so
appreciative to have a chance to see this film before such a school was
attempted in our city (the largest in the state of Kansas.)
As a film
enthusiast, I can live with the fact that our state’s film festivals failed to
find room for a good documentary. But as a parent, a Texan, and a media
advocate, I am astonished by the lack of support for this artful execution of a
terrifying systemic problem. And my point of view does not stem from a lack of
interest in Islam or education reform. I can get on board with a wide range of
backgrounds and perspectives. To name a few examples, I engage in Interfaith
dialogue and send my kids to a Catholic school (and I’m not even Catholic).
But looking
the other way as funds are diverted from our public education system, which is
subject to locally-elected oversight and regulations to protect the public
interest, in order to finance charter schools that further sub-par education
and fund anti-democratic activities in the US and other nations? That is
unconscionable.
The parallel
of a society’s reticence to confront an uncomfortable yet dangerous problem hit
me while watching Spotlight, the Oscar-nominated film based on the true story of The
Boston Globe investigation of priests molesting school children. That film
exposed a different problem, but the same sentiment: If it takes a village to
raise a child, it also takes a village to abuse one.
On digging
deeper, I began to find out why. According to New York University Research Professor
of Education Diane Ravitch, “The privatization movement is ‘the perfect storm’.”
In theory,
the privatization of education makes sense. The problem is, it still has severe
problems in application. As Dr. Ravitch explained,
In 1998 I testified on behalf of
charter schools in New York. I become very discouraged because one of the
conservative think tanks where I was on the board authorized charters in Ohio
and all of them failed. Over time I began looking and saying to myself ‘these
things don’t work’. The testing’s not working its not making schools better.
The kids are not getting a better education; they’re getting a worse education.
They’re losing the arts, they’re losing physical education, they’re losing
history. I began to realize that the things I believed in were wrong. When
people say why did you change your mind it’s a simple answer: three words: I
was wrong.
“You see the
politicians looking the other way not wanting to acknowledge the problems they
know,” said Hall. “You see the same thing with the foundations of billionaires,
like Bill & Melinda Gates, that are spending hundreds of millions of
dollars to push through a school policy agenda that most Americans may not
want.”
Keeping Texas Dumb
The Gülen
movement informally operates schools internationally under the cover of various
foundations and brand names. Here in Texas, Harmony
Public Schools operates nearly 40
campuses around the state, often branded or positioned as science academies or
STEM-related in major and secondary metropolitan areas.
KILLING ED
features several teachers who were willing to go on record concerning the
drawbacks of the Harmony charter school chain, the largest chain of charter
schools in the state.
“The Turkish
administrators do most of the planning on what is going to be implemented in
our schools,” said Harmony educator Amy Warren. She added that she’s not
qualified to teach health and was encouraged to take the kids to recess.
Another
Harmony teacher in Lubbock, who kept anonymous in the film to prevent reprisals
from the Gülen Movement read from her diary, “I think at this point we have
more un-certified teachers than certified.”
In Houston, a
covert camera shows the “special ed” student sitting outside of three different
classes during his day.
The
privatization movement postulates that the broken school system will benefit
from competition. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who advocates for
privatizing education using a voucher system, claims that parents aren’t
complaining so he’s not worried.
“We have over
500 campuses. We have 215 charters, so if you have a charter and you’re
successful, you can replicate,” said Patrick. However, in a clip from KILLING
ED, Patrick mentions Harmony among the models, even though its operations are
clearly problematic.
As a parent,
I can see this from both sides. No question that our public school system has
its challenges. My own urban neighborhood’s public school is 98 percent
low-income and serves a predominantly Spanish-speaking community. After some of
our neighborhood’s most committed parents made a go of making the public school
work, many gave up over frustrations with school administrators and other
issues. The options these parents faced were to home school, choose a private
or charter school or move. We opted to stay and selected a local private
school.
The benefits
we enjoy by supporting our local Catholic school include a warm and diverse
community, an accountable principal, certified teachers, engaged parents, and a
transparent system - essentially the same benefits I would expect from a
well-performing public school. It is a shame that we have to pay to get the benefits
that many suburban families get in their public schools, and that the lack of
more viable options prevents more families from staying in town.
As a Texan,
when it comes time to pay my property taxes each year, I don’t complain because
I know this contribution helps fund the public school system that should
provide the quality of education that every child deserves. In the real world,
words like “should” may sound idealistic, but supporting public education is an
ideal worth pursuing if we want America to remain a superpower.
Privatization
is a much larger issue than one shady school system, but the Gülen movement
exemplifies the perils of diverting funds from public education to subsidize a
system that serves special interests over those of our children.
Texas can do better. At least I hope we can.
