An article in the Arkansas Times discusses the differential treatment of instructors and pupils from Turkish and non-Turkish backgrounds in Gülen’s LISA Academies in the state:

An examination by The New York Times of the Harmony Schools in Texas casts light on a different area: the way they spend public money. And it raises questions about whether, ultimately, the schools are using taxpayer dollars to benefit the Gulen movement — by giving business to Gulen followers, or through financial arrangements with local foundations that promote Gulen teachings and Turkish culture.

Local angle: At least two charter schools in Arkansas, the LISA Academy schools in Little Rock and North Little Rock, were established by leaders with Turkish backgrounds. Democratic power broker Lottie Shackelford once introduced me to a group of Turkish people she was with at a Starbucks and told me, “They even have their own school.” She referred to the LISA academies. Complaints have arisen from time to time about the schools relative to treatment of staff and students based on national origin, but leaders have always defended the schools as unaffected by that and unconnected to any Turkish religious movement. Critics of the Gulen movement dispute that.

Full article available here.