John Croman
KARE 11 News
A charter school in Inver Grove Heights is taking extra security precautions and working with law enforcement agencies in the wake of death threats.
It all began with a series of newspaper columns accusing Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy of using taxpayer money to teach Islamic religion, something the school's director says is just plain false.
"We are fully aware of the obligations that come with that public money," the academy's director Asad Zaman told KARE 11 Wednesday, "And we take care to insure that we operate a non-sectarian program. None of the public money is spent on any religious activities. "
***
Many of those who leveled complaints and threats appear to view the school as part of a larger conspiracy to establish the Muslim religion as the official worldwide religion.
"I can't even control my own parking lot," Zaman laughed, "Let alone the entire world!"
Zaman says he can only hope those who hate him because of some perceived threat will look at the world differently some day.
"All problems can be solved," he said, "We can solve this problem if only people would have reasonable, rational discussions instead of having hateful conversations."
He's heartened by letters of support, including a donation mailed in by a teacher in Hutchinson, Minnesota who wrote simply, "Please use this money to buy more books for your library."
As the children played at recess a police squad car could be seen slowly cruising through the parking lot nearby, part of stepped up patrols.
But, like most kids on a warm, sunny spring day in Minnesota, the youngsters were preoccupied with enjoying the outdoors.
Original article
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Furor over Islam taught at US public school
Agence France-Presse
CHICAGO (AFP) — Police have stepped up patrols of an elementary school in Minnesota after it received threats in the wake of accusations that it was using public funds to teach Islam.
The threats came after a local columnist wrote that the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, a suburban Minneapolis charter school run by an Islamic charity, appeared to be violating a ban on teaching religion in public schools.
Charter schools are public schools run by private organizations with public funds.
While many have been started by religious groups, they are bound to US rules that public schools must accommodate the religious needs of their students but are not allowed to promote religious views or lead prayer services.
The brewing controversy came to head in recent days when a substitute teacher said she saw students "corralled" into involuntary prayer services, and a local television station criticized the school for failing to fly a US flag.
The story got picked up on anti-Muslim websites and the school started getting threatening calls and e-mails, including threats to burn it down and "destroy" its students and leaders.
"These vile and vicious attacks on us have resulted in death threats against my students, myself and my family," Asad Zaman, executive director of the academy, told AFP Wednesday.
Tarek ibn Ziyad is run by the charity Islamic Relief USA and specializes in teaching Arabic language and culture in addition to standard public grade school subjects.
The majority of the students are Muslim and the school offers regular prayer services and after-school Islamic instruction, but officials say they are careful to follow state guidelines.
Zaman scoffs at the idea that the school is secretly Islamic or that students are forced to attend prayer services, noting that it is inspected regularly by the state Department of Education and has hosted a number of reporters and high-profile politicians.
"We do not teach religion. We do not favor any religion," he said in a telephone interview.
"We specialize in dramatic turnarounds. More than 90 percent of our students are in poverty and we outperform schools in the (wealthy) suburbs."
But the columnist who sparked the controversy says that while the reports of threats are "repellant" they should not "distract attraction from the central issue here, and that is, whether this publicly-financed school is skirting or breaking the law that all others must observe when it comes to religious endorsement."
"If this were a bunch of Baptists or Catholics with the kids being led to the rosary on Mondays through Thursday and led to Mass on Fridays there wouldn't be any question that this is crossing the line," said Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten.
Kersten is also concerned that the school, which has a long waiting list and has recently expanded to a second campus, will prevent the assimilation of the area's growing population of new Muslim immigrants.
"If you have a very large immigrant Muslim population being educated at taxpayer expenses in a separate system where Arabic is mandatory and there's an emphasis on the culture of the so-called Eastern world, it seems to me you are setting up a very problematic situation," she told AFP.
The Minnesota Department of Education said it goes to "great lengths" to ensure that charter schools understand they must be "non-sectarian" in nature while also accommodating the religious beliefs of students.
"We take seriously the concerns raised regarding Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy and are conducting an appropriate review," Minnesota Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said in a statement.
Original article
CHICAGO (AFP) — Police have stepped up patrols of an elementary school in Minnesota after it received threats in the wake of accusations that it was using public funds to teach Islam.
The threats came after a local columnist wrote that the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, a suburban Minneapolis charter school run by an Islamic charity, appeared to be violating a ban on teaching religion in public schools.
Charter schools are public schools run by private organizations with public funds.
While many have been started by religious groups, they are bound to US rules that public schools must accommodate the religious needs of their students but are not allowed to promote religious views or lead prayer services.
The brewing controversy came to head in recent days when a substitute teacher said she saw students "corralled" into involuntary prayer services, and a local television station criticized the school for failing to fly a US flag.
The story got picked up on anti-Muslim websites and the school started getting threatening calls and e-mails, including threats to burn it down and "destroy" its students and leaders.
"These vile and vicious attacks on us have resulted in death threats against my students, myself and my family," Asad Zaman, executive director of the academy, told AFP Wednesday.
Tarek ibn Ziyad is run by the charity Islamic Relief USA and specializes in teaching Arabic language and culture in addition to standard public grade school subjects.
The majority of the students are Muslim and the school offers regular prayer services and after-school Islamic instruction, but officials say they are careful to follow state guidelines.
Zaman scoffs at the idea that the school is secretly Islamic or that students are forced to attend prayer services, noting that it is inspected regularly by the state Department of Education and has hosted a number of reporters and high-profile politicians.
"We do not teach religion. We do not favor any religion," he said in a telephone interview.
"We specialize in dramatic turnarounds. More than 90 percent of our students are in poverty and we outperform schools in the (wealthy) suburbs."
But the columnist who sparked the controversy says that while the reports of threats are "repellant" they should not "distract attraction from the central issue here, and that is, whether this publicly-financed school is skirting or breaking the law that all others must observe when it comes to religious endorsement."
"If this were a bunch of Baptists or Catholics with the kids being led to the rosary on Mondays through Thursday and led to Mass on Fridays there wouldn't be any question that this is crossing the line," said Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten.
Kersten is also concerned that the school, which has a long waiting list and has recently expanded to a second campus, will prevent the assimilation of the area's growing population of new Muslim immigrants.
"If you have a very large immigrant Muslim population being educated at taxpayer expenses in a separate system where Arabic is mandatory and there's an emphasis on the culture of the so-called Eastern world, it seems to me you are setting up a very problematic situation," she told AFP.
The Minnesota Department of Education said it goes to "great lengths" to ensure that charter schools understand they must be "non-sectarian" in nature while also accommodating the religious beliefs of students.
"We take seriously the concerns raised regarding Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy and are conducting an appropriate review," Minnesota Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said in a statement.
Original article
Monday, April 14, 2008
From Catholic to charter schools
The Washington Times
Editorial
During this week's much-anticipated papal visit, Pope Benedict is slated to deliver an unusual address to Catholic college and university presidents on Catholic education. His words may have unintentional relevance for the District of Columbia's own Catholic-education questions, which are closely linked to the tides and turns of the city's nascent charter schools.
At present, the Archdiocese of Washington faces much criticism for its proposal to convert seven Catholic schools into publicly funded nonreligious charters. Some Catholics question what they view as the archdiocese's abdication of a key, historic role in education, while the D.C. Council and voices from the public-school system ask further questions about the finances. But Mayor Adrian Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee seem favorably disposed and should push the plan to completion. It makes good sense for the city and the students, both to bolster the city's charter-school alternatives and to save schools that educate students from mostly minority and lower-to-middle-income backgrounds.
In a city plagued with public-education problems as extensively as Washington is, the loss of these schools would decrease the options of families who already face significant limitations in one of the country's worst-performing public-school systems. At least some of the financing questions reflect hostility toward the expansion of the District's charter schools. But those who characterize the plan as Mayor Fenty's "bailout" of the Catholic Church can at least be shown the numbers to suggest the plan is more like a bargain acquisition. Nationally, Catholic schools outperform their public counterparts and do so on much tighter budgets. These schools will no longer be "Catholic" — religious curricular components, Catholic names and other signs of the church will be stripped away. But they will retain many of the people and characteristics which drew families seeking alternatives to the public schools in the first place. If the schools close, the District will end up educating the students in any event, except — and this is perhaps key to the opposition — the educating will occur inside D.C. public schools, which the education establishment controls firmly.
The question of whether the archdiocese's finances necessitate the move is of interest to Catholics who have posed worries about the future of Catholic education in the District. But the city must presume that Washington Archbishop Donald Wuerl means what he says when he reports that a 5-year, $50 million operating deficit will require the schools' closure absent this plan. The city must convert these Catholic schools into charters.
Original editorial
Editorial
During this week's much-anticipated papal visit, Pope Benedict is slated to deliver an unusual address to Catholic college and university presidents on Catholic education. His words may have unintentional relevance for the District of Columbia's own Catholic-education questions, which are closely linked to the tides and turns of the city's nascent charter schools.
At present, the Archdiocese of Washington faces much criticism for its proposal to convert seven Catholic schools into publicly funded nonreligious charters. Some Catholics question what they view as the archdiocese's abdication of a key, historic role in education, while the D.C. Council and voices from the public-school system ask further questions about the finances. But Mayor Adrian Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee seem favorably disposed and should push the plan to completion. It makes good sense for the city and the students, both to bolster the city's charter-school alternatives and to save schools that educate students from mostly minority and lower-to-middle-income backgrounds.
In a city plagued with public-education problems as extensively as Washington is, the loss of these schools would decrease the options of families who already face significant limitations in one of the country's worst-performing public-school systems. At least some of the financing questions reflect hostility toward the expansion of the District's charter schools. But those who characterize the plan as Mayor Fenty's "bailout" of the Catholic Church can at least be shown the numbers to suggest the plan is more like a bargain acquisition. Nationally, Catholic schools outperform their public counterparts and do so on much tighter budgets. These schools will no longer be "Catholic" — religious curricular components, Catholic names and other signs of the church will be stripped away. But they will retain many of the people and characteristics which drew families seeking alternatives to the public schools in the first place. If the schools close, the District will end up educating the students in any event, except — and this is perhaps key to the opposition — the educating will occur inside D.C. public schools, which the education establishment controls firmly.
The question of whether the archdiocese's finances necessitate the move is of interest to Catholics who have posed worries about the future of Catholic education in the District. But the city must presume that Washington Archbishop Donald Wuerl means what he says when he reports that a 5-year, $50 million operating deficit will require the schools' closure absent this plan. The city must convert these Catholic schools into charters.
Original editorial
Kersten's Arabic-school source: more to the story
Kersten's Arabic-school source: more to the story
David Brauer
MinnPost.com
Conservative Strib columnist Katherine Kersten kicked up a storm last week in her campaign against an Inver Grove Heights Arabic charter school, Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA). Kersten claims the public school engages in questionable Muslim religious practices. The school hasn't allowed her to visit, but Kersten found an eyewitness: a substitute teacher who confirmed many of the allegations. State officials have since said they will increase inspections and will contact federal officials about the school's sponsors.
One data point Kersten omitted: the substitute, Amanda Getz, is a Republican political and education activist. As Getz wrote two years ago, the self-described conservative has a special interest in "education reform and work to improve our country's public schools."
Does that obliterate Getz's credibility? No; it might even enhance it in some eyes. But Getz was not some naïf walking into a charter school; it's unlikely the politically active conservative teacher was ignorant of Kersten's longstanding anti-TIZA campaign when she accepted the assignment. Getz's affiliations may have colored her views, and Strib readers deserved to know about it.
The original article
David Brauer
MinnPost.com
Conservative Strib columnist Katherine Kersten kicked up a storm last week in her campaign against an Inver Grove Heights Arabic charter school, Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA). Kersten claims the public school engages in questionable Muslim religious practices. The school hasn't allowed her to visit, but Kersten found an eyewitness: a substitute teacher who confirmed many of the allegations. State officials have since said they will increase inspections and will contact federal officials about the school's sponsors.
One data point Kersten omitted: the substitute, Amanda Getz, is a Republican political and education activist. As Getz wrote two years ago, the self-described conservative has a special interest in "education reform and work to improve our country's public schools."
Does that obliterate Getz's credibility? No; it might even enhance it in some eyes. But Getz was not some naïf walking into a charter school; it's unlikely the politically active conservative teacher was ignorant of Kersten's longstanding anti-TIZA campaign when she accepted the assignment. Getz's affiliations may have colored her views, and Strib readers deserved to know about it.
The original article
Friday, April 11, 2008
Paul Rolly: Bus keeps non-LDS student waiting
By Paul Rolly
The Salt Lake Tribune
Annie Yeager is part of a group of parents in northern Utah County who pool their money to rent a bus owned by the charter Paradigm High School in Sandy to shuttle their children to and from school.
But on Fridays, when Paradigm lets out at 11 a.m., Yeager's daughter Rebecca must wait for three hours to take the bus home because it is busy shuffling the LDS students to seminary classes.
Not only does this policy single her daughter out as "non-LDS," says Yeager, but leaves her daughter in limbo for three hours.
State school officials have other concerns. School Board attorney Carol Lear says a charter school that uses public money and provides a resource to aid religious instruction raises "serious constitutional issues."
And while the bus is insured by the state Office of Risk Management, director Roger Livingston recently wrote to Schools Superintendent Patti Harrington to tell her that Risk Management will not cover school buses rented to private parties. Once a private entity takes
control of the bus, Livingston said, the state loses its governmental immunity protection, which puts caps on liability claims.
Paradigm director Celia Johnson said the charter school by law is not responsible for transporting students to and from school. The school contracts with the parents for rent of the bus to transport their children. It also contracts with a group of parents to transport their children to an LDS seminary building for "released time."
But Yeager points out the school's policy manual says parents may opt to rent the bus for transportation to seminary "if the time does not conflict with previously planned school bus activities."
Yeager says the contract with the northern Utah County parents constitutes a "previously planned bus activity.
She has filed a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union.
Click here for the original article.
The Salt Lake Tribune
Annie Yeager is part of a group of parents in northern Utah County who pool their money to rent a bus owned by the charter Paradigm High School in Sandy to shuttle their children to and from school.
But on Fridays, when Paradigm lets out at 11 a.m., Yeager's daughter Rebecca must wait for three hours to take the bus home because it is busy shuffling the LDS students to seminary classes.
Not only does this policy single her daughter out as "non-LDS," says Yeager, but leaves her daughter in limbo for three hours.
State school officials have other concerns. School Board attorney Carol Lear says a charter school that uses public money and provides a resource to aid religious instruction raises "serious constitutional issues."
And while the bus is insured by the state Office of Risk Management, director Roger Livingston recently wrote to Schools Superintendent Patti Harrington to tell her that Risk Management will not cover school buses rented to private parties. Once a private entity takes
control of the bus, Livingston said, the state loses its governmental immunity protection, which puts caps on liability claims.
Paradigm director Celia Johnson said the charter school by law is not responsible for transporting students to and from school. The school contracts with the parents for rent of the bus to transport their children. It also contracts with a group of parents to transport their children to an LDS seminary building for "released time."
But Yeager points out the school's policy manual says parents may opt to rent the bus for transportation to seminary "if the time does not conflict with previously planned school bus activities."
Yeager says the contract with the northern Utah County parents constitutes a "previously planned bus activity.
She has filed a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union.
Click here for the original article.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday: Wall of silence broken at state's Muslim public school
Wednesday: Wall of silence broken at state's Muslim public school
Katherine Kersten
Star Tribune
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
Recently, I wrote about Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), a K-8 charter school in Inver Grove Heights. Charter schools are public schools and by law must not endorse or promote religion.
Evidence suggests, however, that TIZA is an Islamic school, funded by Minnesota taxpayers.
TIZA has many characteristics that suggest a religious school. It shares the headquarters building of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, whose mission is "establishing Islam in Minnesota." The building also houses a mosque. TIZA's executive director, Asad Zaman, is a Muslim imam, or religious leader, and its sponsor is an organization called Islamic Relief.
Students pray daily, the cafeteria serves halal food - permissible under Islamic law -- and "Islamic Studies" is offered at the end of the school day.
Click here for the whole original article.
Katherine Kersten
Star Tribune
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
Recently, I wrote about Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), a K-8 charter school in Inver Grove Heights. Charter schools are public schools and by law must not endorse or promote religion.
Evidence suggests, however, that TIZA is an Islamic school, funded by Minnesota taxpayers.
TIZA has many characteristics that suggest a religious school. It shares the headquarters building of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, whose mission is "establishing Islam in Minnesota." The building also houses a mosque. TIZA's executive director, Asad Zaman, is a Muslim imam, or religious leader, and its sponsor is an organization called Islamic Relief.
Students pray daily, the cafeteria serves halal food - permissible under Islamic law -- and "Islamic Studies" is offered at the end of the school day.
Click here for the whole original article.
Charter school's religious activities focus of state investigation
Tim Nelson, Minnesota Public Radio
April 10, 2008
State education officials say they're investigating claims that a publicly-funded Inver Grove Heights charter school is offering religious instruction to students in violation of the law.
St. Paul, Minn. — Tarik ibn Zayad Academy is one of only a handful of public schools in Minnesota that focuses on Middle Eastern culture.
More than 300 students attend the school. Girls wear headscarves and the school shares a site with a mosque and the Muslim American Society of Minnesota.
Now, a Bloomington woman who taught at the school last month says she believes the school is offering religious instruction to its students.
***
The Minnesota Department of Education said Tuesday it was conducting a review of Getz's allegations.
***
The substitute teacher may indeed have seen students praying, he said. But the students had been released early from school for religious instruction, as occasionally happens in other public schools, he said.
Zaman noted that the substitute teacher didn't speak Arabic, and he said she may have misinterpreted any number of cultural practices as religious instruction.
"This is part of the problem with relying on the word of someone who has been in the school all of six hours," Zaman said.
His school has become the subject of a series of threatening communications after the substitute teacher's allegations were made public in the newspaper on Wednesday, Zaman said.
The threats had prompted him to invite Inver Grove Heights police to Tarik ibn Zayad Academy to assess the security of his school, he said.
Click here for the original article.
April 10, 2008
State education officials say they're investigating claims that a publicly-funded Inver Grove Heights charter school is offering religious instruction to students in violation of the law.
St. Paul, Minn. — Tarik ibn Zayad Academy is one of only a handful of public schools in Minnesota that focuses on Middle Eastern culture.
More than 300 students attend the school. Girls wear headscarves and the school shares a site with a mosque and the Muslim American Society of Minnesota.
Now, a Bloomington woman who taught at the school last month says she believes the school is offering religious instruction to its students.
***
The Minnesota Department of Education said Tuesday it was conducting a review of Getz's allegations.
***
The substitute teacher may indeed have seen students praying, he said. But the students had been released early from school for religious instruction, as occasionally happens in other public schools, he said.
Zaman noted that the substitute teacher didn't speak Arabic, and he said she may have misinterpreted any number of cultural practices as religious instruction.
"This is part of the problem with relying on the word of someone who has been in the school all of six hours," Zaman said.
His school has become the subject of a series of threatening communications after the substitute teacher's allegations were made public in the newspaper on Wednesday, Zaman said.
The threats had prompted him to invite Inver Grove Heights police to Tarik ibn Zayad Academy to assess the security of his school, he said.
Click here for the original article.
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