are there any schools like this in Pgh? (Pittsburgh, Reading: private school, college)

[XRiteMA98]

Hi. I am posting this in order to ask if there are any charter schools affiliated with this Turkish man in Pittsburgh.

U.S. charter schools tied to powerful Turkish imam - CBS News

[sparrowmint]

If this becomes a big deal, a lot of the focus will be on the Islamic factor, eventhough it's not taught in the schools. The major issue to me is buried on the last page of the story. That they are bringing in Turkish teachers and claiming there are no Americans available for these jobs. There are thousands and thousands of licensed teachers out of work in this country, so no one's going to convince me there are no American teachers available for these jobs.

[XRiteMA98]

Sparrowmint, could you please answer my question if you know: are there schools affiliated with him in Pgh? If yes what are they? This is all I want to know and this is why I posted here. Thank you.

[BrianTH]

Some have suggested that Young Scholars of Western PA might be affiliated with Gulen in some way, but to my knowledge that was just speculative on their part.

[ElijahAstin]

Honestly, after reading the article, there are far worse people with whom these schools could be affiliated.

[mountainlove]

none that i am aware of...

[sskink]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Some have suggested that Young Scholars of Western PA might be affiliated with Gulen in some way, but to my knowledge that was just speculative on their part.

It does seem to be acknowledged that sister YS of PA schools in State College and Philly are affiliated with Gulen, so makes sense that YS of WPa would be as well.

Reading the comments on the linked article, certainly seems parents are happy with the schools. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around Texans embracing Turks, but seems most commenters there are satisfied with the product, especially compared to what they were getting in public schools.

Seems to me, this being America and all, the point shouldn't be to put down these charters on the basis of unproven allegations of some insidious religious plot but to learn from them so our own schools can compete in math and science. Because for the most part, the US sucks at math and science and it's getting worse every year.

[BrianTH]

Right, if the Turkish math and science teachers were preaching Islam, or anything else typical American parents would have found objectionable, those parents would have gone ballistic, and the schools would have failed to attract a broad cross-section of students.

[okaydorothy]

I did see the article on 60 mins. After being educated in a different country, I can see why charters work so well. They are totally focused on education, wear uniforms, make school interesting for kids and realize that educating our children is our future.

I have no experience in the schools in pittsburgh yet, but I am sure I will understand more within the year. My kids go to school in NY now and some of the teachers want to be the students best friends, they are totally unorganized. Funny, the teachers that my kids learn the best from are the strictest teachers that no student wants. They are the teachers that are totally organized, care so much for the kids and want them to suceed.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

I did see the article on 60 mins. After being educated in a different country, I can see why charters work so well. They are totally focused on education, wear uniforms, make school interesting for kids and realize that educating our children is our future.

I'm not aware of a charter that use school uniforms here. There might be a rare few, but it's not the norm here for charters. If you want school uniforms, you need to go the private school route.