The ACLU of Minnesota says newly released documents support its nearly three-year-old claims against a now-closed charter school accused of promoting religion.
The ACLU on Monday released hundreds of documents in its case against Tarek ibn Ziyad (TUH'-reek IH'-bin ZEE'-ahd) Academy, or TiZA (TEE'-zah). A judge approved the documents release last week.
Minnesota Public Radio (http://bit.ly/oXfR7s) reports the documents are the final salvos in the ACLU’s settlement between the two other parties it sued along with TiZA in 2009: the Minnesota Department of Education and Islamic Relief, TiZA’s former sponsor.
As part of that settlement, the Department of Education will now require all charter schools in Minnesota to submit a form that discloses any religious entanglements.
Shamus O’Meara, a lawyer for TiZA, called Monday’s document release “a bunch of noise” that only serves to taint any potential jury pool in the trial.
TiZA closed this summer after the state rejected its bid to transfer to a new charter school sponsor.
