House Speaker and state Democratic Party chair Michael Madigan (left) shakes hands with Mustafa Demir, the mayor of Fatih district in Turkey. Mustafa Demir was picked up on corruption charges in Turkey (one of 50 in the latest Gulen drama) on December 17, 2013
EXCELLENT article how
the Concept Schools (Midwest operation of the Gulen Movement) was rejected by
the CPS (Chicago Public Schools) for 2 new charter schools in the Chicago area
under the Horizon Science name. The Gulen political bribing machine, then went
to State Democratic leader and house speaker Madigan who had previously been a
guest of Hizmet on the famous FREE trips to Turkey. MADIGAN overturned this
REJECTION at the state level--and the Gulen Movement got the approval for 2 new
schools in the Chicago area. One of these schools in going to be at a former
factory site and there is serious concern over a toxic waste report. Madigan is
an ASS.
When you read how
Madigan and his staff got 4 trips to Turkey, not to mention how his son and
other family members benefit from the Gulen “Concept Schools” we really get a grasp of just how corrupt
Illinois politics really is.
By writer researcher Dan Mihalopoulos:
Updated: December 23, 2013 5:15PM
When Concept Schools Inc. wanted to open two charter schools in Chicago last year, it sought permission from Chicago Public Schools officials.
The answer was no.
CPS officials have allowed the rapid expansion of charters. But they turned down Concept. They said the charter operator, headquartered in Des Plaines, didn’t merit being allowed to expand based on test scores at its one city school, the Chicago Math and Science Academy in Rogers Park.
Concept Schools appealed to a higher authority: the little-known Illinois State Charter School Commission. The state agency was created in 2011 by lawmakers including House Speaker Michael Madigan, the South Side Democrat who’s a powerful advocate of Concept and the faith-based Gulen movement to which the schools are connected.
This time, the answer was yes.
As the first, and so far only, charter operator to benefit from the decisions of the 2-year-old state agency, Concept is getting 33 percent more funding per pupil for those two new schools than the city school system gives other charters.
Madigan, who’s also the Illinois Democratic Party chairman, visited Concept’s Chicago Math and Science Academy last year. In a video the school posted on YouTube, Madigan praised the school, founded and run by Turkish immigrants.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/24480273-452/cps-s
CHARTER OFFICIAL
MADE $100,000
ON DEAL
MADE $100,000
ON DEAL
Like most charter schools, Concept Schools’ Chicago Math and Science Academy relies on local taxpayers for more than 92 percent of its $6 million-a-year budget.
CMSA sold its building in Rogers Park two years ago to a related not-for-profit company called New Plan Learning, which went to Wall Street to borrow $33.1 million through a bond issue to buy the North Side campus, add a gym and expand three other Concept schools in Ohio.
CMSA is on the hook to pay about $40 million in rent to New Plan Learning over 30 years to pay its share of the debt. Their only other option, school officials said, was to default on loans they took out in 2009 to buy the school’s current building in Rogers Park.
The school’s current board president, Edip Pektas, was treasurer at the time and recused himself from the bond-deal votes. School records show New Plan Learning paid $100,000 to Pektas as a financial adviser.
Pektas’ role with New Plan Learning was identified in bond documents. But those statements — given to potential bond buyers — did not disclose his CMSA board position.
ays-no-to-charter-schools-but-michael-madigan-says-yes.
Researcher and writer Dan Mihalopoulos connects the dots of Concept School officals with the various Gulen Movement front groups in the USA
The three Concept schools in Chicago are among more than 150 U.S. schools tied to the worldwide Gulen movement, according to Joshua D. Hendrick, a sociology professor at Loyola University Maryland and author of a recent book on the movement.
“They’re absolutely related,” Hendrick said of the charter schools and the other Turkish groups in Chicago.
Among the ties:
◆ The board president for Concept’s Chicago Math and Science Academy, Edip Pektas, is secretary of the Turkic American Federation of Midwest, an umbrella group for the Niagara Foundation and the Turkish chamber. “The Turkish American community is a smaller community in the region, and whenever there’s an activity, my name comes up,” Pektas said to questions about ties between the school and other groups.
◆ CMSA’s former treasurer Hasan Ali Yurtsever was president of the Gulen-affiliated Rumi Forum in Washington, D.C. In a 2007 interview at Georgetown University, Yurtsever said Gulen was a close family friend.
◆ Another former CMSA board member, Murat Surucu, was on the board of a Gulen-inspired group in California before moving to Chicago.
◆ Yavuz Burak Canbolat was the Turkish chamber’s treasurer at the same time he was CMSA president, from 2009 to 2011.
◆ Concept vice president Salim Ucan was principal of the Science Academy of Chicago, now located in Mount Prospect. That private school was started by Niagara Educational Services, which created the Niagara Foundation.
Niagara Foundation officials say they broke with Niagara Educational Services in 2009. But records show the Niagara Foundation’s president and another current board member were on the Niagara Educational Services board while it was owed loan payments by Concept’s real estate arm and while it leased a building to a Concept school in Ohio.
Despite the connections with Gulenists, Ucan said, “Concept Schools is not affiliated with, nor does it promote, any political or religious agendas.”
GULEN POLITICIAN OF THE YEAR AWARD WILL GO TO MADIGAN,
