Minnesota charter school sues to stay open

Published 11:35 am Thursday, June 16, 2011

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Twin Cities area charter school has filed a federal lawsuit over a state rule banning out-of-state sponsors.

Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, or TiZA, has an authorizer located out of state and could be shut down in two weeks when the rule takes effect. The Minnesota Department of Education has yet to approve the school’s plan to transfer to a new organization. The school’s attorney, Shamus O’Meara, says if the school doesn’t have a new overseer when the rule takes effect, it runs the risk of being closed.

Department of Education spokeswoman Charlene Briner says the agency is “sensitive to the timeline” involved.

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The school’s new lawsuit claims that the ban on out-of-state authorizers violates the U.S. Constitution.