Court Approves Minnesota Department of Education Settlement In TiZA Suit

The ACLU of Minnesota announced Monday that a Minnesota federal district court has approved a Settlement Agreement (full text) with the Minnesota Department of Education in ACLU v. Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy. The lawsuit claims that TiZA, a publicly-funded Minnesota charter school violated the Establishment Clause by promoting Islam. (See prior posting.) Under the settlement, the court approved release of a 29-page Stipulation of Facts (full text) compiled by the ACLU, the Department of Education, and Islamic Relief USA (the charter school's former sponsor). The stipulation illustrates various incidents in which public funds or the school's operations appear to have furthered Islam or Muslim religious organizations.  Under the Settlement Agreement, the Department of Education also agreed that in the future it will require every charter schools to provide annual written assurances (full text of required assurances) that it is operating in a non-sectarian manner and provides equal treatment and equal access for all religions. (See prior related posting.)