advancement of Islam

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what appeared to be impermissible advancement of Islam at a tax-funded charter school in Minnesota. At one point Guy Rodgers, ACT! for America Executive Director, contacted the Minnesota Department of Education to discuss the matter. The Minnesota Department investigated and cited the school, Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TiZA) for two violations of law. But the story below reveals that problems continue and the school has, according to one official, “taken a confrontational road.” The evidence is mounting that TiZA appears intent on continuing to use our tax dollars to impermissibly advance Islam. In her new book, They Must Be Stopped, Brigitte Gabriel documents how Muslims have used charter schools and taxpayer-funded vouchers to help finance terrorist activities. She also documents how public and charter schools are increasingly and aggressively advocating for Islam, jumping the line between church and state. When you read it you will be outraged. If you haven’t yet ordered your copy of Brigitte’s explosive new book, you owe it to yourself and your family to do so now. Find out what’s happening in communities across the country – perhaps ev And for those of you who have, thank you! They Must Be Stopped has already made the New York Times Best Seller list – only eight days after its release! As it climbs the best seller list new doors are opening with the “mainstream media.” We will have some exciting announcements about that soon! Storm brewing between state officials and Muslim school By KATHERINE KERSTEN, Star Tribune Last update: September 10, 2008 - http://www.startribune.com/local/28117969.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUF Last week, Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TiZA) and the Minnesota Department of Education appeared to reach an understanding in the controversy over whether Islam is being promoted at this public school. But behind the scenes, a storm may be brewing. TiZA officials have "taken a confrontational road" in discussions with the department, according to Deputy MDE Commissioner Chas Anderson, the department's No. 2 official. Anderson says that the two sides have not yet reached an agreement on one key issue and that MDE will be closely monitoring TiZA's performance in future months. TiZA is a K-8 charter school in Inver Grove Heights, financed by taxpayers. Its students have scored well on standardized tests. But like all public schools, it may not encourage or endorse religion, or favor one religion over another. A number of facts raise questions about TiZA on this score. Its executive director, Asad Zaman, is an imam, or Muslim religious leader. The school shares a building with a mosque and the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society, which the Chicago Tribune has described as the American branch of the Muslim Brotherhood -- "the world's most influential Islamic fundamentalist group." Most of TiZA's students are Muslim, many from low-income immigrant families. The school breaks daily for prayer, its cafeteria serves halal food (permissible under Islamic law), and Arabic is a required subject. School buses do not leave until after-school Muslim Studies classes, which many students attend, have ended for the day. Last spring, MDE opened an investigation after press reports raised questions about whether TiZA has been blurring the church/state line. The investigation focused on the school's 30-minute Friday communal prayer event, among other issues. The service -- led by adults -- has been conducted on school premises, and both students and teachers have attended. In a report issued in May, the MDE concluded that TiZA's Friday prayer event violated the law and since then has been working with the school to make changes. "We wanted TiZA to do Friday prayers the way all other public schools" handle similar activities -- "as release time, under state law," said Anderson. In a release-time arrangement, students move off-site for religious activities. But TiZA said no, according to Anderson. Instead, the school will continue to hold Friday prayer on its premises. Students will lead prayer and staff will be present only "to ensure student safety," said Zaman in a letter to the MDE. In a response to Zaman's letter, Anderson wrote complaining of what she called the "defensive tone" of the letter in which he set forth the school's intentions. "It is inaccurate for TiZA to imply that MDE's legal concerns regarding the school's operations ... were unfounded," she wrote, "and it is of utmost importance that TiZA take seriously its responsibility to comply with applicable state and federal laws." TiZA now says it will shorten Friday prayers -- whose length has been a potential concern because of instructional time requirements -- though it has not said by how much. MDE has agreed that TiZA's new arrangement on after-school bus transportation will bring the school into legal compliance on that issue. But the department is highly skeptical that TiZA's proposed arrangement for on-site, student-led Friday prayers will work. We are "very troubled by it," said Anderson in an interview. "This may look good on paper. But how can you have an assembly with older students in charge of younger students?" she said. MDE plans to track the situation closely and conduct site visits. Asked to respond to MDE's continuing concerns, the school issued a statement through spokesman Blois Olson saying: "TiZA Academy has reached agreement with the Department of Education ... and will continue to work with the department to ensure that we continue to be in compliance with all state and federal laws." While TiZA and the department don't agree about the Friday prayer service -- even over whether they have an agreement on it -- there are other religious accommodations at the school that raise questions. In its May report, for example, MDE said that regularly scheduled daily prayers at TiZA appear to pass legal muster because they are "voluntary and student-led." But imagine the reaction if prayer time -- reflecting only one faith -- were built into the schedule at, say, Stillwater Junior High. Asked if other public schools would be allowed to accommodate religion the way that TiZA accommodates Islam, Anderson said: "We sought guidance, we want guidance" from federal sources and the Minnesota attorney general, "but no one will give us a black and white answer." MDE says there are broader questions at issue. "This upcoming legislative session may be an appropriate forum" for "a serious discussion about the appropriateness of sectarian organizations sponsoring publicly-funded nonsectarian charter schools in the first place," said Anderson in a statement Monday. For now, she added, "This is a gray area. School authorities at TiZA know it's a gray area, and they are walking right up to and over that line."