Fascinating stuff. Why is the DOJ getting itself involved in what is a local police issue? What does this story say about the kinds of textbooks used in our schools and the intent and content of Common Core? Who's in charge of the curriculum and textbook selection in FL?
There is a controversy brewing in Volusia County, Florida over a particular textbook used to teach World History in the high school.
Prentice Hall, World History textbook was discussed by Todd Sterns on Sean Hannity’s show. It includes 36 pages devoted to Islam and a major chapter, but no chapters on any other religion. Prentice Hall is owned by Pearson.
The book was selected by Volusia County schools because it was aligned to Florida’s Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS). These mandated standards are established by the Florida Department of Education and are phase III of the Common Core. The Next Generation Label is used by the Common Core Consortia for the Science and Social Studies standards the are intended to follow the adoption of Math and English language Common Core standards.
Parents had planned to protest at the school board’s meeting, but the meeting was cancelled in the interest of public safety. The school district was contacted by the United States Department of Justice over safety concerns due to the parent protest and had the school board cancel the meeting. This shows the degree of federal control over the implementation of the Common Core curriculum.
Parent and taxpayer concerns relate to the intense and glorified view of Islam in the text. The book in question contains pages of quotes from the Quran, but nothing from the Bible or the Torah. Mohammed is declared a prophet, but the deity of Jesus is called into question in the few passages that even mention Jesus. But there are more subtle instances too. For example, Christians “massacre” but Muslims “occupy.” Jihad is described as an act protecting Islam, and the text describes women in Islamic cultures in a way that is wholly inaccurate
Groups that traditionally fight against religious references in schools, such as the ACLU, are amazingly silent on the issue.
Pearson is defending their textbook as fair and unbiased. The Institute on Religious and Civic Values served as a consultant on the book. However, that organization only recently changed their name. They were formerly called the Council on Islamic Education. The name changed occurred to help the organization appear ‘mainstream’ when they pursue consulting contracts from textbook publishers.
The Prentice Hall book above is by no means the only book with Islamic bias. According to Citizens for National Security (CFNS), there are over 80 textbooks in use that have significant muslim bias. Florida is ground zero for many of the battles regarding pr0-Islamic bias because nearly one-third of all textbook sales are to the Florida education system.
http://freepatriot.org/2013/11/11/us-doj-cancels-school-board-meeting-amid-protests-over-common-core-book/ [emphasis in original]
