Before vote, Grabowski aims to sink Saugus charter bid

SAUGUS – As the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education gets set to vote on a new charter school in Saugus this morning, a look at the Pioneer Charter School of Science II?s application shows many similarities to a charter school system in Texas.Numerous sections of the school?s application, including educational philosophy, character education program, and several subsections in the school characteristics and curriculum and instruction sections are almost identical to those from an application from Harmony Public Schools.?They?re literally lying on their application, and it should disqualify them and it should be disallowed,” said Saugus School Committee member Arthur Grabowski, who has been a vocal critic of PCSS. “I?m not sure plagiarism is the right word, but it?s a lack of transparency and truthfulness.”Read a PDF of the charter school’s applicationGrabowski also accused PCSS of being run by followers of the Gülen Movement, a group that follows the teaching of Turkish exile and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.?It?s a national thing,” he said. “It?s an issue because there are 120 some-odd schools of that nature throughout the country and they import teachers from Turkey to come teach here. Why do we have to import teachers from Turkey to teach our children?”Grabowski said it would be a “big mistake” for the board to approve the school today, noting “there are too many questions.”?They say they?re a completely independent school, then why does your application match virtually word-for-word other applications throughout other parts of the country?” Grabowski asked. “Is that a coincidence? Of course it isn?t ? I don?t know what their motives are, but they certainly found a cash cow in the taxpayers of Massachusetts.”JC Considine, spokesperson for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, declined to comment on the issue.A June 2011 New York Times story looked into the Harmony Public School system and how its officials spend public money. According to the article, records showed that just about all construction and renovation work done for Harmony Schools at the time was done by Turkish-owned contractors, leaving some local businesses wondering why they weren?t awarded jobs even after bidding lower. The report also states the schools use special visas to hire foreign teachers.Read a PDF of the Harmony School’s education modelHarmony Schools were also featured in a 60 Minutes segment last May.Barish Icin, executive director of the Pioneer Charter School of Science in Everett, could not be reached Monday but has denied any connection to the Gülen Movement in previous interviews with The Daily Item.The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education was to meet Monday night to discuss and vote on Boston charter schools, according to Considine, and was to meet this morning to discuss charter schools outside of Boston, including Pioneer. Considine said a final vote will come later in the day.Massachusetts Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester recommended the board approve the school last week.Today?s meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. at the department?s building at 75 Pleasant St. in downtown Malden.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].