Minnesota orders charter school accused of promoting Islam to correct problems
An Inver Grove Heights charter school must change the way it handles issues related to Muslim prayer in school and busing for after-school religious instruction or face repercussions, the Minnesota Department of Education said Monday. Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, a public school with mostly Muslim students, has been accused of blurring the line between religion and state by promoting Islam, which the school has denied. Most of the school's operations follow state charter school law and federal guidelines on prayer in schools, but the department found two areas of concern, said Morgan Brown, an assistant commissioner with the department. School director Asad Zaman said he takes the state's concerns seriously and will address them as soon as possible. He also took the report as vindication, saying: "I now have proof that this is not a religious school." But the report said the school may be violating the law by allowing voluntary Friday prayers that most students attend to take place on school grounds. The Department of Education based its findings on interviews with school staff members and a substitute teacher interviewed by the news media, documents and two site visits, one of them unannounced. The Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union also launched an as-yet incomplete investigation of the charter school in response to media reports. If their report does uncover problems, "We're concerned that this would apply to other charter schools, as well, that are chartered by Christian groups," said executive director Chuck Samuelson, who said changes to Minnesota charter school law in recent years have resulted in less oversight of the schools.
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune, 5/20/08, By Sarah Lemagie
[Editor’s Note: For more on this and other such controversies, see below.]
NSBA School Law pages on religion in charter schools