ACLU Has Taxpayer Standing To Challenge Charter School As Promoting Islam

In American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota v. Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, (D MN, July 21, 2009), a Minnesota federal district court held that plaintiff has taxpayer standing to challenge as an Establishment Clause violation the funding of a charter school by the state of Minnesota. Plaintiff alleges that the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy advances the Muslim religion and fosters entanglement between government and religion. The court rejected defendants' argument that under the U.S. Supreme Court's Hein decision, funding of the school was a discretionary executive branch decision, not a legislative appropriation. It said: "The fact that the Commissioner [of Education] has the responsibility to choose or authorize charter schools (which then in turn receive funding) does not mean that Plaintiff here is challenging an executive action." The court did, however, dismiss plaintiff's claim of statutory violations and dismissed claims against certain of the defendants on sovereign immunity grounds. ACLU yesterday issued a press release on the decision and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported on the case. (See prior related posting.)