Harmony Schools answer claims

Inside the Harmony Science Academy, about 100 people listened closely Thursday evening as Harmony Schools superintendent Soner Tarim described the education their children would receive at the charter school.

Outside the school, at the edge of the parking lot, a group of seven people clustered in the broiling sun, fliers clutched in their hands.

Harmony Science Academy assistant principal Cengiz Han crossed the parking lot, his tie flapping over his shoulder in a steady wind. The group clustered together as he approached, spoke to them briefly, and turned and left.

“Well, I invited them in if they want to come,” Han said as he walked back across the parking lot.

Harmony charter schools have been opening across Texas for the past decade, and a new one is planned in Odessa.

The first Harmony school obtained a charter from the Texas Education Agency and opened in Houston in 2000. Since then, Harmony charter schools have opened across Texas. The Cosmos Foundation, a Texas-based nonprofit organization founded by professors and teachers, launches the schools, which are geared toward helping students learn math and science.

If the charter applications submitted to the TEA are approved this year, there will be 33 schools in the state next year, including the one due to open in Odessa.

However, the West Texas Patriots, a small, newly formed political organization has some concerns about the school.

West Texas Patriot member Jeremy Fowler said he originally was thrilled to learn a school focusing on science and math would be coming to Odessa.

“When I heard about I thought this would be fantastic because ECISD is terrible. The school’s math and science programs need improvement; we have an extremely high teen pregnancy rate and a high dropout rate. I thought a school like Harmony would be great for the kids,” Fowler said.

Fowler started researching Harmony and said he became concerned that Harmony schools are tied to Islamic extremism through the Cosmos Foundation. Fowler said Cosmos is tied to Fethullah Gulen, the leader of one of Turkey’s most influential religious sects, who now lives in voluntary exile in Pennsylvania. The Gulen movement is based on a modernized approach to Islam, encouraging practitioners to embrace the modern world.

Fowler said he believes Harmony schools are tied to Gulen and will be teaching students to become Islamic extremists. Fowler doesn’t have children of age for the school, but he said he is concerned for his grandchildren and nieces and nephews.

His sister Michelle Fowler agreed.

“Yeah, look at the Chinese people. They took over lots of countries without invading,” she said. Michelle said she became aware of the group when a flier was sent home addressed to her 7-year-old daughter.

“How did they get her name anyways,” she asked angrily. Michelle Fowler and a few other members of the group attended the first open-house meeting held earlier this week, armed with fliers. The group was asked to leave that evening, and when they came to the next open house, the Harmony schools administrators called the police, Tarim said.

Texas Education Agency spokesperson DeEtta Culbertson said the TEA has not received any complaints or unfavorable reports about the schools, which have also received good reviews in U.S. News and World Report.

“We’ve never had any complaints brought to the agency … As long as a school abides by the terms of the charter and the law, there’s no problem,” Culbertson said.

This week, Tarim came to Odessa to speak with parents about the school. One of the founders of Harmony, Tarim said this is the first time he has ever felt the need to come and personally deal with these kinds of accusations.

Born in Turkey, Tarim came to the United States 20 years ago for college. He became a professor, married and settled here. He said he and some of his fellow professors noticed their college students lacked math and science skills, so they decided to start a charter school.

Tarim acknowledges that a percentage of the teachers and administrators are Turkish. Due to a shortage in teachers, Tarim said they often hire people from other countries who have studied in the United States. About 15 percent of a teaching staff of 1,200 is from other countries, and Tarim acknowledges that many of them are from Turkey. About 50 percent of the administrators are international as well. Tarim said they do not discuss religion in Harmony schools and neither the schools nor the Cosmos Foundation have any ties to Gulen.

However, Tarim said it is the quality of the education, not who teaches it that should matter. When hiring teachers, he said he looks for the most qualified person, no matter where they’re from.

“Education is the most important thing. It shouldn’t matter if the teacher is Chinese or Spanish or anything else as long as they’re offering a good education. That is what’s important,” Tarim said.

The main thing Fowler emphasized was that parents should do their own research.

“We don’t want people to go by our word. We want people to do the research and find out for themselves,” Fowler said.

Tarim agreed that parents should think for themselves.

“The main thing I would tell the (West Texas Patriots) is to come and talk to us and find out what our school is really about. They would sign their children up immediately,” Tarim said.

Parent Iresha Brown said she was more concerned about what the program had to offer for her daughter Alaneisha Milligan-Brown.

“We’re here because she really likes science and computers. If it looks good, we may try to get in it,” Brown said.

Parent Candy Jones agreed.

“I’ve got family across the state who have told me about these schools, and they are supposed to have really high test scores and offer good educations, so I thought I’d come and see it. You can’t tell how good a program is unless you go in with an open mind,” Jones said.

ON THE NET
>> Harmony Science Academy website: hsaodessa.org