FBI Raids Louisiana Charter School With Ties To Gulen Movement

The FBI raided the offices of the Kenilworth Science & Technology charter school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana this past week according to the The Times Picayune. Like the Indiana Math & Science Academy charter schools in Indianapolis, the charter school in Kenilworth has ties to the controversial education movement inspired by Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish exile once accused of trying to overthrow the Turkish government who now resides in Pennsylvania under a grant of asylum. Gulen has amassed a multi-billion dollar fortune from explained sources while living in virtual seclusion in a rural Pennsylvania community, rarely appearing in public and primarily communicating to his followers through recorded video messages.

The FBI and school are not talking about the cause for this past week's raid, but a Philadelphia Inquirer report in 2011 indicated that the FBI was investigating whether teachers employed by schools associated with the Gulen movement are required to kick back part of their taxpayer-supported salaries to Hizmet, a Turkish Muslim movement.

The Gulen-affiliated charter schools have been criticized for hiring Turkish immigrant teachers the schools sponsor for H-1B non-immigrant visas and permanent resident status rather than hiring available American teachers. The Indiana Math & Science Academy's three charter schools in Indianapolis filed 37 applications for H-1B visas between 2001 and 2012, two of which were denied. It filed another 4 applications for green cards, two of which were denied during the same period.

Advance Indiana previously reported how many Indiana politicians and reporters have been wined and dined and taken on free trips to Turkey by a front group for the Gulen Movement, the Niagara Foundation, to promote the movement's agenda in the U.S. One of the group's leaders, Bilal Eksili, seems to show up wherever prominent Indiana politicians can be found to present awards to them for their past support and to have his photo taken with them, which he proudly displays on the group's website and his Twitter account, describing the politicians as his "friend." The organization had former Indiana Supt. of Education Tony Bennett, a big proponent of charter schools, wrapped around their finger.