Up for Renewal: Fulton Science Middle School Charter

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, December 9, 2011
By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim. On May 15, 2002 the Georgia Secretary of State, officially, fulfilled a request to change the certificate of incorporation for Cosmos Science Academy, Inc. to Fulton Science Academy. In succeeding years, Fulton Science Academy branched into an elementary school, a Middle School and a High School – all tax-funded public charter schools.

But those three schools are uniquely different from other charter schools in Georgia. They are affiliated with the Cosmos Foundation that was formed in Texas a decade ago by a group of professors and businessmen from Turkey. Soon, Cosmos had founded 33 public charter schools in Texas, operating as Harmony Schools and funded by over $100 million a year in taxes.

A 2011 chart of Cosmos Foundation board members revealed an astonishing fact about the operators of those Texas schools. 25 of the board members came from Turkey, one from Kazakhstan, one from Australia, one from Morocco and two with unknown origin. Many of them entered the U.S. on H1B visas. It may surprise you to know that folks from Turkey operate public schools here, but it shouldn’t. When President George H.W. Bush created the movement in 1991, he set no limit on who could start what he called a “radical, break-the-mold” charter school.

Charter schools are public schools that operate independently of local school boards. They may waive education laws, rules, regulations and policies that govern other public schools. Now, in the U.S., more than 120 charter schools founded by Cosmos Foundation and its affiliates operate as part of the Gulen movement, named for Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish Islamic imam now residing in Pennsylvania.

Since Fulton Science Academy Middle School’s charter is up for renewal, the Fulton County School Board has suggested changes. Such as replacing the school’s governing board with a parent majority and parent chairman, to remove the appearance of “heavy in one demographic.”

Since members of the Georgia General Assembly are expected to introduce charter school legislation in 2012, the issue will be a hot topic for months to come. So, stay tuned! For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.