If it Walks Like a Duck...

Two of the following describe imaginary publicly-funded charter schools and the third describes a real one. Can you separate fact from fiction?

School A: Yigael Yadin Academy shares the headquarters building of Hadassah, and a synagogue. The executive director, Seth Goldstein, is a rabbi, and the school is sponsored by the Jewish Relief Agency. Students pray daily, the cafeteria serves kosher food and "Jewish Studies" is offered at the end of the school day. On the blackboard list of assignments written by teachers, Jewish Studies is the last one- studying the Torah. The students are told to copy it into their planner, along with everything else. After school, no other extracurricular activities are offered- only Jewish Studies. 77% of the students participate in the Jewish Studies program. On Friday afternoons, a "school assembly" in the gym is held. At this assembly, a man in a yarmulke recites the traditional shabbat blessing of the children.

School B: Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy shares the headquarters building of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, and a mosque. The executive director, Asad Zaman, is an imam, and the school is sponsored by Islamic Relief. Students pray daily, the cafeteria serves halal food and "Islamic Studies" is offered at the end of the school day. On the blackboard list of assignments written by teachers, Islamic Studies is the last one- studying the Koran. The students are told to copy it into their planner, along with everything else. After school, no other extracurricular activities are offered- only Islamic Studies. 77% of the students participate in the Islamic Studies program. On Friday afternoons, a "school assembly" in the gym is held. At this assembly, a man in a prayer cap leads the children in Islamic prayer.

School C: Richard the Lionhearted Academy shares the headquarters building of Catholics United for the Faith, and a Catholic church. The executive director, Seamus O'Flannigan, is a priest, and the school is sponsored by Catholic Charities. Students pray daily, the cafeteria serves meatless meals on Fridays, and "Catholic Studies" is offered at the end of the school day. On the blackboard list of assignments written by teachers, Catholic Studies is the last one- studying the Bible. The students are told to copy it into their planner, along with everything else. After school, no other extracurricular activities are offered- only Catholic Studies. 77% of the students participate in the Catholic Studies program. On Friday afternoons, a "school assembly" in the gym is held. At this assembly, a man wearing a brown scapular leads children in praying the rosary.

All of these schools would appear to violate the First Amendment's establishment clause, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in recent decades. Whether or not one personally agrees with the strict prohibition of religion in government-run schools, it is clearly unconstitutional to allow the promotion of one faith by a government-run school but not others. We can't permit one religion to have a government-run school but then turn around and refuse the same right to other religions.

I'm sure that it will not surprise you to learn that the real school is B, the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy. While Mr. Zaman, the school's director, claimed to a reporter from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Tribune that TIZA is "not a religious school", its practices raise major red flags. From outward appearances, it seems to be a taxpayer-funded madrassah.

If this charter school faced accusations of being a Christian school (Catholic or otherwise), you just know the ACLU would be in court filing a lawsuit so fast that it would make your head spin. So why the silence from them about this alleged violation of the First Amendment?

It's time to end the pro-Islamic favoritism- either shut down TIZA or else allow Christians, Jews, and other religions their own charter schools!

UPDATE: In response to the Tribune article, it appears that the ACLU of MN has opened an investigation of TIZA. They discovered that the school's website solicits volunteers for "Friday prayers", and have received reports that prayers, though "voluntary", are organized by school officials.