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Oklahoma board leader denies schools promoting Islam
Concerns fanned by local talk radio prompted the Union School Board president to assure parents the district has no plans to encourage its students to join the Islamic faith. "Let me be perfectly clear: Union Public Schools is not implementing any new curriculum which would advance any religion," board resident Derek Rader said during a Monday board meeting. "We support the Constitution of this country and understand the First Amendment that protects the religious liberty rights of students of all faiths or none," Rader said. Concerns began with a brochure distributed to teachers about a workshop titled "The Arab World and Islam." The workshop was being offered to teachers in districts throughout northeast Oklahoma and was presented in Tulsa by the Washington-based Middle East Policy Council. While only three Union teachers attended the workshop, the district's communication director said its availability spawned conspiracy theories that were "blown out of proportion." "People were sure we were going to change our curriculum," Gretchen Haas-Bethell said. Rader said during the board meeting that a "great deal of reckless misinformation" had been spread by the media. He said Union, like all Oklahoma public schools, follows curriculum guidelines set by the Legislature and the state Education Department. "Public schools as governmental institutions do not encourage the practice of any religion," Rader said. "Our students are free to express their personal faiths and beliefs while at school. "But it is left to the family and their faith community to educate young people in religion." Posted by: TS(vice girl) 2004-10-14 |
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