An embattled charter school will be fined nearly $140,000 for employing teachers who did not have proper licenses, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.
Eight teachers at Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TiZA) were out of compliance with state licensing laws, Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said in a ruling issued today. Her decision upheld an earlier one by her department to penalize the school, but it substantially reduced both the fine and the number of teachers found to have been lacking appropriate licenses.
The school will begin losing state aid in December for the violations, the ruling said.
TiZA plans to appeal Seagren’s decision, said Blois Olson, a Twin Cities public relations executive who has acted as the school’s spokesman. The penalty will not shut down the school, he said.
The decision comes at a time of protracted controversy for TiZA, a K-8 charter school with about 480 students at campuses in Inver Grove Heights and Blaine. The school has faced intense scrutiny from the state in recent months, as well as an ongoing lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota, which alleges the school promotes Islam in violation of the Constitution.
In March, education department officials made unannounced visits to the school, where they found that two-thirds of its teachers lacked proper licenses. They reported that 23 teachers and two substitute teachers were out of compliance with licensing laws, and they said the violations could cost the school $994,000 in state aid.
School officials told the state that some of the teachers actually did have the right licenses, while others would seek appropriate licensure or be reassigned.
But in June, department officials told the school that 14 teachers were still out of compliance. As a result, the school would lose $530,000 in state aid, they said.
The school appealed the decision to Seagren this summer.
Seagren reduced the fine because she determined that state officials did not properly notify TiZA about the status of some teachers and failed to supply enough evidence of violations for others, according to a statement from the department.