Kathy you stated” thank you for your response”
Dear Kathy, your welcome

Kathy you stated” If you read my words correctly you would have noticed that I did not say that you showed the TIZA school director how to fly the American flag. I said that I presume that you would have shown him how to do this, had he asked you to.”

Dear Kathy, your correct, you stated“I bet this USA marine who’s daugther attends TIZA, would have shown him how to fly the flag, don’t you think?”

Kathy you stated “Thank you for your service to the United States of America by being a Marine”

Dear Kathy, I did it because I felt strongly about it and Thank you for your comment.

Kathy you stated “I also have many family and friends serving in the Marines and the Navy. I am continually grateful for all who serve and give selflessly to our Country.”

Dear Kathy, Any selfless act is an act that we should be grateful for, so this is good.

Kathy you stated” I must also say that if STUPID profane bigoted people are making threats and doing and saying horrible things that they should be held accountable. It is unacceptable behavior and should not be tolerated in any way, shape, or form.”

Dear Kathy, this is why i have an issue with reporters that don’t do their research

Kathy you stated“I must say that your military service does not render a person’s opinions unquestionable or infallible. Reverend Jeremiah Wright also served in the Marines and even Barack Obama has separated himself from Rev Wright in disagreement over his sermons and statements.”

Dear Kathy, I am not Reverend Jeremiah, so are you comparing me to him? :)

Kathy you stated “So, I respectfully disagree with your opinions.”

Dear Kathy, Its nice to talk to someone that disagrees. :) this is good

Kathy you stated” I read your response. I think that you underestimate what goes on in the Public School System. It was South Grove Elementary School, where my child attended before; they had to tear it down to due lack of tax payer funding for our public schools. Christianity is stifled and discriminated against in the public school system, make no mistake about it. It is the one religion left that overt discrimination is still tolerated!”

Dear Kathy, the single incident that your telling us about is (in my opinion) is Discrimination. I have Christian family members and I would not have liked that one bit. As for your generalizing that comment, i disagree due to the fact that there are over 2 dozen Christian sponsor Charter schools in our area alone. If you need to know which schools they are I will bring you that information.
The main point is, not how many Christian sponsor charter schools are around, the point is that I don’t find this to be a negative thing because these schools, just like TIZA are allowed to be Charter school that are publicly funded.
If there is any discrimination towards student constitutional right to warship, then the schools are breaking the laws and thats the problem, I am sure we both would agree, should not happen.

kathy you stated “As a child, I was faithfully Catholic. I wore a “Scapula” which is a symbol that for some of the Catholic faith (which exercised my own individual right to freedom of religion). I was teased when and questioned about it constantly. However, my family could not afford to send me to a private Catholic School. And, there were no tax payer funded (at 3.8 MILLION dollars in the 2007 – 2008 school year) labeled under the guise of a “Charter” school that my parents could send me to.”

Dear Kathy, I am sorry that you were teased, my daughter went through the same problem (as stated in the article). I am fearful that these type of issues could became so bad one day that we might end up like Europe where there are laws against Hijab, Cross etc.

Kathy you stated “There was no “Charter” School funded by Tax Payers that had Holy Water at the entrance for me to make the sign of the cross with as I entered School. There was no camaraderie for me as very few took the Catholic faith as seriously as I did in my past. There was no display of the Stations of The Cross provided by my public school that I could bow and pray to. There was no group kneeling and pews with a Tabernacle provided by the public school that I could kneel and pray at. There were no candles provided by the public school for me to light for a loved one.”

Dear Kathy, I am sorry that you had to grow up in an hostile environment such as the one that did not respect your religious believes and rights, however now there are plenty of Christan sponsor charter schools that your kids are able to go to and that is good news. I am not sure how many of them are Catholic funded charter school, but I do know that (for sure) there is at least one.

Kathy you stated “There is a difference between -School Sponsored and School Promotion of Religion and Religious activities versus Limited Tolerance of an Individuals Rights to freedom to practice their Religion.”

Dear Kathy, I agree, that is why I like TIZA for my daughter, she can be her self and no one will pick on her and the respect her right to pray.

Kathy you stated “In Public School systems there are a diverse religions and backgrounds. There are Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and all students are welcome at truly Public School Systems at Tax Payer Expense. The school system itself does NOT promote a specific religious activity, although it may be required to allow and “tolerate” small acts of religious activity by an individual.”

Dear Kathy, I don’t know what you mean by small acts but as far as I know, basic prayers, wearing a cross or HIjab should be allowed by law that is part of our constitution.

Kathy you stated “How many Jewish students attend TIZA? How many Evangelical Free people attend TIZA School?”

Dear Kathy, I don’t know the answer to that question, however i know that it would be illegal to ask any child that question or even the parent. I guess I could ask the same question regarding Jewish or Christan sponsor charter schools but I can’t for the same reason stated above. We can hypothesis that the parents want to send there kids to schools that they would be comfortable being them selves. Any child that would be refused to go to a school due to there religious believes, would be a problem I think. In this case its not, and I am sure Jewish and Christan sponsor charter schools follow the same guidelines.

Kathy you stated “Why should your daughter get to attend a school at tax payer expense where she feels more comfortable practicing her Religion through attire, prayer, and ritual?”

Dear Kathy, because her or any child of any faith, wanting to practice his/her faith is protected by the constitution.

Kath you stated “Why shouldn’t we all get to do the same thing for our specific religion? We can. But, NOT at TAX PAYER EXPENSE. We are required to pay out of pocket $5,000.00 to $12,000.00 per year WITHOUT So much as a TAX Deduction. CONTINUALLY the legislature denies tax credits to private tuition paying parents. So, not only do parents pay private school tuition for private school education at a RELIGIOUS institution: THEY CONTINUE TO PAY PROPERTY TAXES AND STATE TAXES that fund PUBLIC AND CHARTER SCHOOLS. Charter Schools that are presumably NON-religious.”

Dear Kathy, We all should be able to do the same thing and if you like I can bring you list of Christian sponsor charter schools in you area that you might like your children to go to. As you can see, it is upheld by the constitution so your child have every right to practice his or her faith. The debate brought up but KK from Star Trib and KSTP was that kids are forced to follow Islam while this was shown to be wrong by Kare 11.

Kathy you stated “Is that fair taxation? I believe that it is NOT.”

Dear Kathy, following the constitution is fair so there is no problem with that.

Kathy you stated “Are you aware of the financial situation Independent School District #199 has been in? School closings, public meetings, assigning blame over the years…. What about all the unfunded mandates that continue to go unfunded? What if District #199 had 3.8 million dollars more this school year to educate ALL Inver Grove Heights Residents? This would have helped with our teachers’ salaries, reduced the number of students in a classroom, and who knows what else! There is only so much money to go around in the public school system.”

Dear Kathy, It seems that you have an issue with Public School VS. Public Charter school. So do you have an issue with the concept Charter Schools? Then your entering a bigger debate then what you will find in this article.

Kathy you stated “Public Schools are ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS. Public Schools are not RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS.”

Dear Kathy, I agree.

Kathy you stated “I refuse to accept the political correctness run amok in our society. I work in social services. I work with very diverse populations on a personal level and the population of people that I work with range from Buddhist to Muslim to Jewish to Catholic to Christian, and from Refugees and Immigrants to US Born Citizens. I absolutely respect and admire their right to practice their belief system and their religious system in their homes, and in public institutions through their individual expressions of their faiths. I respect the choice of people who are agnostic or atheist.”

Dear Kathy, as do I.

Kathy you stated “I will not accept that I cannot hold this expressed opinion and still love and honor other’s who have different belief systems from myself.”

Dear Kathy, your comment were not in correlation with the article. Thats what I was trying to point out. You did also use labels which seem to be a generalization so, again I was pointing out that as well.

Kathy you stated “ I refuse to accept the notion that we should accept one religious practice and the promotion of one particular religion in a public school system, which is publicly funded while stifling others and disallowing the same.”:

Dear Kathy, As do I, and that is why I my daughter goes to a school that respects all faiths.

Kathy you stated “I fully support your right to send your child(ren) to a private religious school of your family’s choosing!! I do not support religiosioty being promoted and encouraged at an alleged public secular school system.”

Dear Kathy, again, I choose TIZA because it respects all believes, including my daughters .

Kathy you stated “It is, at best, inconsistent. I believe it to be unfair and discriminatory.”

Dear kathy, as do I.

Kathy you stated “Thank-you for listening to me. The story and news reports were fairly frustrating. It is good to be able to debate and discuss. I realize that the article was not just about what I am addressing. However, why does it have to be? I think it is a perfect forum for debate over the topic.”

Dear Kathy, I also agree that its nice to be able to blog each other with out discrimination or insults. My questioning your generalization is an important factor because this is a huge problem, when it comes to the issue of the “in-group and out-group”

Kathy you stated “Can you truly say that you do not understand how people could have legitimate anger and frustration over the TIZA school being tax payer, publicly funded? Truly?”

Dear Kathy, Actually I do know why they are angry and frustrated,. Its because KK from Star Trib and KSTP reporter didn’t do their jobs and now they got hit hard by Kare 11. What I don’t understand is why people choose to stay this way when truth is shown. I also don’t understand the terroristic emails and phone calls and I am sure you would agree with that.

I prefer “clarity to agreement”.

Sincerely,
Kathy
(And, yes… I am a proud lifetime resident of Inver Grove Heights! Imperfect yet lovable just the same!)

Dear Kathy, I want to say that i am sorry if I sounded a bit rude in my last comment and also in my answering you recent comments in regards to holidays.

I will make sure that next time will not do that and will follow your example :)

Thank you and I am happy that we are getting this chance to talk.

Sincerely
Mohammad