State review finds Minnesota charter school doesn't teach Islam

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The curriculum at a school for Muslims complies with federal and state law, the Minnesota state Education Department said but it directed that other changes be made in religious areas. The state said Tarek ibn Zayad Academy should change its busing schedule and its handling of Friday prayer services. The shorter prayer services on other days were found to be acceptable, but not the 30-minute service on school grounds on the Muslim holy day. The department said bus rides home should be available right after school ends; currently students must wait until after a voluntary after-school religious program. State law requires charter schools - publicly funded schools with more autonomy than traditional public schools - to be nonsectarian. The Education Department investigated after a substitute teacher alleged the school was offering religious instruction in Islam to students. The school of about 400 students in suburban Inver Grove Heights shares a building with the Muslim American Society of Minnesota and its mosque.