Islamic funamentalist school in Minnesota. Who isn't suprised?
April 9, 2008 - Katherine Kersten, a columnist for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, has been investigating the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), a K-8 charter school in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. This is her second article on the school.
The charter school is paid for by taxpayer money. It is, however, 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 and the executive director, Asad Zaman, is a Muslim imam, or religious leader, and its sponsor is an organization called Islamic Relief.
She spoke to a substitute teacher who described the school routine that is indistinguishable from a religious school. The columnist was refused entry to the school by the Imam. She asks some hard questions, like
Why does the Minnesota Department of Education allow this sort of religious activity at a public school? According to Zaman, the department inspects TIZA regularly -- and has done so "numerous times" -- to ensure that it is not a religious school.The result of her inquiries is that the Minnesota Department of Education as well as the ACLU are investigating. The Department of Education is contacting the U.S. State Department to find out the status of the Islamic Relief fund.
But the department's records document only three site visits to TIZA in five years -- two in 2003-04 and one in 2007, according to Assistant Commissioner Morgan Brown. None of the visits focused specifically on religious practices.
Inver Grove [Google map] [Wikipedia entry for Inver Grove]
Her first article dated March 9: "Are taxpayers footing bill for Islamic school in Minnesota?"
April 10 - Metro charter school accused of teaching Islam
The Executive Director and Imam at the school thought the substitute who spoke to the newspaper was "sadly mistaken." KSTP Ch 5 reported that
state law requires the school to fly an American flag during school hours, however no flag flies outside of TIZA Academy.Be sure to watch their video report and don't miss the statements by the Executive Director.
Zaman told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS he didn’t know how to work the flagpole.
