Opinion

Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fire

 

Charter Schools Might Be Just as Scary as Public Schools

Today, I learned the hard way how easy it is to get caught up in something that you would want no part of. Thankfully I learned the full story before it was too late.

I am a mother of 5 with kids ranging from 3 to 9 years old and they attend public school- for now!

We have considered private school, but with four children already in school and another one that will be in school in 2 years, the cost of private school is just not a possible choice for us.

This has been an ongoing struggle of mine and my husband’s since our first child entered the public school system. We have contemplated home-schooling, and at one point we were very close to pulling them out of public school mid-year to make that a reality.

We also have considered charter schools. I became aware of the charter school option last year and began researching them. Unfortunately, I still had a lot of unanswered questions by the time school enrolled for this current year so we chose to keep them at their current school.

As the year has progressed we have had several situations come up that have once again left us knowing that we have to make some changes soon.

My husband and I have been praying desperately about what to do. Up until this point neither of us has received a clear answer to our prayers.

Since we are not involved in a church we want to make sure our children have a social outlet. If we do end up homeschooling I know that I will become a part of a homeschooling group so they can have social interaction with kids their own age.

In the midst of our frustration and continuous prayer- just two weeks ago- an “answer to prayer” presented itself through the mail. We received a mail-out about a charter school opening in our area. We read the literature and checked things out online. It seemed to be a very promising possibility! I filled out the online registration form for each of my school age children. We then left it all in God’s hands.

On Saturday I received a call inviting us to the open house which is for tonight. I accepted the invitation with much excitement and immediately called my husband, who was out running an errand. Things most certainly looked as though God was providing us an answer to our desperate prayers!

Now, let me back up just a bit for a couple of side-notes.

We have friends who enrolled their kids in a charter school right after the start of this school year. They, too, have had nothing but issue after issue with the public school system. If it was not one thing with one child, it was another thing with another child. She finally had enough, pulled her kids out of public school and immediately enrolled them into this charter school. She insisted that I should check this school out for my kids, knowing the ongoing issues and frustrations we are having as well.

The more questions I asked the more reservations I had. The principal of the school is Turkish. The school teaches the Turkish language as a foreign language. The school participates in the yearly Turkish Festival in Houston.

She and her previous husband were stationed in Turkey with the military several years ago, so she was very excited about this. Though I could give no concrete reason why, there was something that just did not set well with me after hearing all this information. No, I am not in any way racist against the Turkish people. It just seemed a bit odd to me that a charter school would be so focused on one specific nationality.  If it is about teaching diversity they are most certainly lacking in accomplishing that goal!

Just last week I happened to see a news article stating that the FBI was investigating US Charter Schools with Turkish links. I read the article and thought to myself, “Yep! I knew there was a reason why I was uncomfortable with that specific Charter School!”

I have not thought much about it since reading the article. I vaguely remember thinking that I wanted to tell my husband about it, because we both had reservations with the school our friends enrolled their kids in. As is normal with life, things got busy and it completely slipped my mind to discuss the article with him.

So, here we are back to today. The kids come home from school and I immediately start the shower line. With this many kids shower time has to be planned out.

All of the kids are showered and dressed and are working on homework. We are just waiting for the hands of the clock to tick away so we can leave for Open House. I’ve glanced at the clock a few times, hoping and praying that my husband can be home in time to go with us.

My telephone rings. It is my husband. Before I answer the phone I have a passing thought, “Don’t tell me he is going to be longer than is expected! I want him to go with us tonight!” I answer the phone, and his first words to me were, “We may have to rethink what we are going to do.” I asked him what he was referring to and he tells me that he’s been doing some deeper research into the Charter School after seeing the news article regarding the FBI Investigation. I slapped my forehead, frustrated because I have forgotten to tell him about it!

We began discussing the article and his further research, and it seems as though the new Charter School where we have an appointment is directly tied in with the organization that is being investigated by the FBI! He said he did not want to completely dismiss the idea, because in his research he saw a lot of conflicting reports. Some parents were not happy with the organization, many were extremely happy with it.

We decided that we would still go to check everything out but we would make no commitments until we processed everything, talked about it, and of course prayed about it, above all.

We ended our conversation so he could finish up what he was doing to head home.

As I began tidying up the counter, I picked up the weekly newspaper. My intention was to sort through the coupons, as is my weekly routine, browse quickly through the actual newspaper, and throw everything away that I don’t need. When I opened the newspaper up my heart literally began to race!

Right there on the front page was an article about the new school opening up! No, it was not an article exposing the school as one of the Turkish connected schools that is being investigated- it was simply an article about the ribbon cutting ceremony which is coming up this Friday and the fact that they are seeking more students. Near the end of the article it named the organization they were funded by- as well as funds from the taxpayers of the state of Texas!

I immediately went to the internet and did a quick search on the name of the organization- the Cosmos Foundation and here is what I found.

As I read the article at the above link discusses how there is a huge mystery surrounding the foundation, and the fact that when interviewing the superintendant of Harmony Schools more questions arose than were actually answered. The administrator being interviewed adamantly denied that neither the schools nor the organization have any ties with Fethullah Gulen or his movement which has long-term goal to create a “universal caliphate”.

It article also stated that there is “evidence that the Turkish administrators of Harmony are operating under the Islamic principle of taqiyya or “holy deception.” The administrators for this school system/organization have no problem LYING about who they are and who they are connected with! And yet we are supposed to believe him when he says there is no connection to the radical Gulen?

I am trying to teach my children to tell the TRUTH NO MATTER WHAT, and the administrators of the school I was considering sending them to have no problem with deception if it is defined by their beliefs as “holy” and fits their purpose! I am sure the “tolerant leftists” would urge me not to jump to conclusions! To these people I ask, “What in the world would make me believe they would actually tell me THE TRUTH!?”

Before I finished the article I called my husband back to tell him our plans for the evening had changed, that after seeing the article in the newspaper and doing further investigating there is no way on God’s green earth that I am going to expose my children to this!

Now, I am sure there are people that will read this and call me a racist, a bigot, a right-wing nut, a conspiracy theorist or any other derogatory term that is so often hurled around by the “tolerant leftists”. That is fine- call me what you will! However, last time I check, The United States of America is still a free country- at least at this time!  I have a choice on where my children go to school, whether it is public school, private school, a charter school or home school. If you choose to send your child to a charter school that is part of an organization that is being investigated by the FBI then that is your choice! I will not try to change your mind. You are free to make your choice, leave my choice for my children up to me!

I already have to counter-teach the secular humanism they are being taught in public school! Given the choice I would much rather have to teach against secular humanism than the strong possibility of having to teach against a religion that teaches that “god” instructs you to kill those who do not believe as you do and that it is ok to lie if it is a “holy lie”!

As a believer in Christ Jesus I know what The Bible teaches.  John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” If Islam/Muslims teach that you should kill those who do not believe as you do this is proof in and of itself that it is a religion straight from the thief- Satan- and the very pits of hell! My Jesus came that all that believe in Him will have life- eternal life- to the fullest! Given the choice I cannot imagine how anyone would actually choose to believe in something that seeks to steal, kill and destroy rather than give life abundant. However, millions of people still choose to believe the lies of this religion.

Now, for those who would choose to attack me by saying that not all Muslims are radical, and in fact, most Muslims are very peace loving people who do not believe in killing infidels, then I say that is fine. This is a free country and they have a choice to believe as they choose. I will not try to change their mind or pressure them or persuade them that my beliefs are right. That is not my job. Yes, I pray for these people, because again, The Bible is very clear that Jesus Christ is the ONLY Way, the ONLY  Truth, and the ONLY Life. No one… NO ONE- comes to The Father- God- except through Him- The Son. (John 14:6) But I know that there is nothing within my power to change someone’s beliefs. That is left to God and the person themselves, whether they choose to have an open mind and heart.

In the very depths of my heart I feel that we averted a crisis tonight. If we had moved our kids from public school to this charter school that is directly connected with the schools that are being investigated by the FBI I believe with every fiber of my being that we would have been jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. Yes, we still have another crisis of sorts to deal with. We know that public school is not the answer for our children. We know that we must make some very difficult decisions very soon. For now, our prayers and our search continue. We have reached a point where we know we have to make a change in our children’s education.

Parents, BEWARE! In your frustration with the state of our public school system I warn you to not allow desperation to take over. I believed that this was possibly an answer to our fervent prayers for a solution in our frustration with the public school system. Sometimes what we perceive as an answer from God very well could be from Satan.

One thing that I learned in my searching is that the taxpayers of Texas pay $41 million a year to this organization to run these charter schools. I also learned that Texas Congressman Randy Neugebauer- a Republican- supports these schools, and former President George W. Bush invited students from the Academy to The White House. And now the FBI is investigating them because these schools appear to be breeding grounds to accomplish Gulen’s goal of a universal caliphate!? Yet another reason why I do not trust a single one of our elected officials!

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One Comment

  1. We homeschooled one of our children due to the fact that we were so… fustrated with the school system. The first year, I bought a homeschooling book with all the subject in one book including her homework. Let me back track a little. The school wanted to put her into special ed. I homeschooled her 4-6th grade. I also did go with her to a homeshooling group once a week along with a gym class once a week so she had some friends. We studed the bible at home, however we did not belong to a chuch group. I did though take me kids(4 girls) to a church group every wed. night. The second year of homeschooling, I knew alttle more what to do. I bough and borrowed alot of the Becka material. She really wanted to go back in the 7th grade. I allowed it if and only if she got no less than b for a grade. She retained very high grades after this. She is now alost 21 years old. Is in college with one year left. She is on the dean’s list and alway has kept her grades. way up. I did not want to homeschool. I really did not want to, however it turned out to really be a blessing. She needed to be away from the world. She really did.

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