Missing Information on School Websites
Given the Gulen Movement's penchant for secrecy, it is not surprising that most of the Gulen charter school websites are missing important information that is customarily shown on normal school websites, even for private schools. In some cases, the omissions are in violation of state education law. Not providing the full legal names of all teachers and administrative staff is a safety issue for parents, as it makes it difficult to track child predators, for example. While in principle all school employees should have been fingerprinted and checked against criminal records by state authorities, in practice many lapses have been documented, and parents should have the opportunity to cross-check names for themselves. Many Gulen charter schools either do not make the lists of teacher/staff names accessible to the general public, or list only part of the names (e.g., "Mr. Mustafa"), or show alias names. We do not know of any other public or public charter schools in the United States that have such a practice.
In many states, schools are required by law to display the names of board members, board meeting dates, agendas, and minutes on their websites. Even when this is not legally required, it clearly is important for parents, teachers, and members of the public to be able to access such information.
The following is a partial list of some omissions of important information from the websites of Gulen charter schools; we plan to make the list more comprehensive in the future. The list is based on the status of the websites as of September 23, 2010.
Abramson Science and Technology Charter School, Louisiana
- No board meeting minutes.
Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School, New York
- Names of teachers and administrators not accessible to general public (login required).
- No board member names.
- No board meeting minutes.
Chicago Math and Science Academy
- No names of teachers or administrators.
- No board meeting minutes.
Coral Academy of Science, Reno, Nevada
- No names of teachers accessible to general public (login required).
- No board meeting minutes (meeting agendas only).
Dove Science Academy, Oklahoma City
- No teachers’ names.
- No board meeting minutes.
Hampden Charter School of Science, Massachussetts
- No names of teachers accessible to general public (login required).
- No board meeting minutes (there is a place on the website, but it shows as “under construction.”
Harmony Science Academy Dallas
- No names of teachers, staff or administrators.
- No names of board members.
- No board meeting dates, times, agendas or minutes.
Harmony Science Academy Euless
- No names of teachers, staff or administrators.
- No names of board members.
- No board meeting dates, times, agendas or minutes.
Horizon Science Academy, Cincinnati
- No names of board of directors ("This page will be created by schools.")
- No board meeting minutes.
Horizon Science Academy, Denison
- No names of teachers or administrators.
- No names of board of directors ("This page will be created by schools.")
Lisa Academy, Arkansas
- No names of teachers accessible to general public (login required).
- No board member names.
- No board meeting minutes.
Lisa Academy North, Arkansas
- No names of teachers or administrators.
- No board member names.
- No board meeting minutes.
Lotus School for Excellence, Colorado
- No names of teachers or administrators.
Magnolia Science Academy 1 Reseda, California
- No teacher names.
- No board member names.
- No board meeting minutes (agendas only).
- No SARC (school report card) available on website. (In California, in contrast to many other states, these reports are accessed from the school websites, rather than from the state Department of Education website)
Magnolia Science Academy 2 Valley, California
- No teacher names.
- No board member names.
- No board meeting minutes (agendas only).
- No SARC (school report card) available on website.
Magnolia Science Academy 4 Venice, California
- No teacher names (the first or last names, e.g. “Mr. Mustafa,” of a few teachers can be found with the information on clubs or tutoring, but this is not a complete list, and it does not say which subjects they teach)
- No board member names.
- No board meeting minutes (agendas only).
- No SARC (school report card) available on website.
Noble Academy of Cleveland, Ohio
- Full teachers’ names not given (first names are missing).
- No board members names.
- No board meeting dates, agendas, or minutes.
Noble Academy of Columbus, Ohio
- No teachers’ names.
- No board members names.
- No board meeting dates, agendas, or minutes.
Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology
- Board minutes were available online during summer 2010 but all links to the pdf documents are now broken.
Pioneer Charter School of Science, Massachusetts
- No board meeting agendas or minutes.
- For a few teachers, initials rather than first names are given.
Sonoran Science Academy, Tucson, Arizona
- No names of administrators.
- Governing board member names not current.
- Board meeting minutes not current.
Syracuse Academy of Science, New York
- Names of teachers not accessible to general public (login required).
- No board member names.
- No board meeting minutes.
Truebright Science Academy, Pennsylvania
- No street address on website.
- No board member names.
- No board meeting minutes.
Wisconsin Career Academy
- No teacher names.
- No board meeting minutes.
Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania
- Board meeting minutes give, in many cases, only the first names of board members or members of the public who are attending.