UPDATE: Texas children roped into Islamic training

This is an update on the story posted here on 31 May 2008.

You will remember that students at Friendswood Junior High School were subjected to an Islam 101 class presented by member of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). This program included prayer. In direct violation of Supreme Court rulings such as: Wallace v. Jaffree

The State's endorsement, by enactment of 16-1-20.1, of prayer activities at the beginning of each school day is not consistent with the established principle that the government must pursue a course of complete neutrality toward religion. Pp. 56-61

The law is very simple. There will be no government sponsored prayer in Public Schools! Yet Principal Robin Lowe chose to violate the law.

Now she has been reassigned to another job. Let us hope that it isn't as a principal of another school.

This whole incident started when a parent complained to the school that his son was physically attacked at the school because he is Muslim. Instead of calling in the students involved, Principal Lowe allowed CAIR (a known terror-supporting group) to indoctrinate the students into Islam.

On Saturday, Friendswood Superintendent Trish Hanks sent a memo to parents and community members saying that she had authorized the presentation for staff only — not for students. She said she had asked her deputy superintendent, Sherry Green, to express that sentiment to Lowe.

"It is obvious now," Hanks wrote, "that a misunderstanding occurred between two very competent and dedicated administrators."

State law allows parents to remove their children from a class or activity that conflicts with their religious or moral beliefs, but schools are not required to send home permission slips before conducting potentially controversial lessons, said Debbie Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency.

Hanks, in her letter, described Friendswood as "a faith-based community" and apologized to parents.

If the parents don't know of an event that would conflict with a child's religious or moral beliefs was happening at the school, how can they remove the child from the event? Letters should have been sent to parents before hand so they could have had the opportunity to remove their child from the school.

But community members and parents of children at the predominantly Anglo and Christian school complained about the assembly. David Bradley is a member of the State Board of Education whose district includes Friendswood. He says the assembly wasn't an appropriate response to an attack on a student.

No it wasn't. If the child attacked wasn't Muslim, but Jewish would there have been a special assembly on Judaism? No. This matter was handled badly by the school administration. And it gave CAIR a foot in the door to insist on other special privileges.