Minnesota Officials Uncertain About Muslim Charter School

Yesterday's Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that tension continues to exist between the Minnesota Department of Education and the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TiZA), a K-8 charter school. The state continues to be concerned that TiZA has stepped over the church-state line. The school's executive director is an imam, it shares a building with a mosque and the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society, the school has daily prayer breaks, and its cafeteria serves halal food. School buses do not leave until students have completed elective after-school religion classes. Also at issue is the school's insistence on holding Friday prayer services on premises, though the school now agrees that it will be student-led, with staff there only for student safety. (See prior related posting.)