WFTV (Volusia County), November 4,
2013
Hundreds of people
in Volusia County are preparing a protest against a textbook that’s
in public schools across Florida. They
believe a world history book dedicates too much material to Islam and doesn’t
focus equally on Christianity and other religions.
Some protest
organizers want students to go home and tear the section on Islam out of their
textbooks.
The controversy
started unraveling after a 15-year-old Deltona high school student showed her
mom her 10th-grade history book, which has an entire chapter dedicated to Islam
but none of the other world religions.
A conservative
activist flocked to Facebook, calling for a curriculum overhaul, and nearly 200
activists are planning a protest at tomorrow’s Volusia County School
Board meeting. {snip}
Proponents say people
need more time dedicated to the religion because is tied to a great deal of the
United States’ foreign affairs, yet few know much about it. {snip}
The district said it
has no plans to change anything about the book.
Statement from the
protest organizer:
An
entire chapter is dedicated to Islam while that of Christianity, Judaism,
Hinduism, Buddhism and other religions are not focused equally. I did
acknowledge that other religions are included throughout the textbook but in
snippets with no dedication of a chapter for easy reference as is the case with
Islam in Chapter 10.
Also,
my statement about the tearing up of Isalm sections in the textbook was simply
a suggestion to counter any possible claims from officials of budgetary
concerns regarding the issuance of new textbooks, supplements to the curriculum
and so on. I then suggested that a simple remedy to correct the issue for the
current school year would be for the school to ask for student volunteers who
would be willing to take the textbook home and tear out the pages to the
chapter so as to quell the controversy, all at a whopping tax payer cost of $0.
I
agree that many of the comments from others may appear to be intolerant, but I
as the organizer of the event have made it CRYSTAL CLEAR on the events page
that such comments need to cease but cannot control the mindset of such
individuals as I am NOT intolerant of minority religions here in the U.S.
–Rick
Sarmiento
Statement from the
Council on American-Islamic Relations:
“The name of the FB
page and intolerant comments is troubling. This group is holding a protest and
rally to oppose the teaching of the historical and basic Pillars of
Islam to students in Volusia County. This group is displaying an alarming
level of intolerance and brazen disregard of minority religions here in the US.
We find their actions Un-American and against every core principal that
makes this country so great,” the Muslim civil liberties group said.
Volusia County Schools is one of many school
districts in Florida that have chosen Prentice Hall’s World History textbook as
a primary resource for teachers to use as they ensure quality instruction on
Florida’s Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for World History.
World History was chosen in accordance
with the State of Florida’s standard procedure for textbook adoption. First,
the State of Florida approves a list of textbooks from which Florida school
districts may choose potential textbooks to adopt. As the State is considering
which textbooks will make its list, the public is offered the opportunity to
participate. World History was one of three state-approved textbooks that met
the state’s criteria for the adoption process. A committee of Volusia County Schools Social Studies teachers
selected the Prentice Hall World History textbook after reviewing all three
potential texts. Volusia County Schools procedures for textbook
adoption provide for public participation and viewing of the textbooks chosen
by the committee before a final decision is made.
One key factor in
selecting a textbook is its ability to accurately convey information aligned
to Florida’s Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS). These
mandated standards are established by the Florida Department of Education.
Teachers may use the adopted textbook, as well as supplemental materials, to
teach the mandated standards.
Prentice Hall’s World
History textbook presents coverage of the standards for World History, which
require students to learn information about world religions and their
relationship to the development of civilizations. The textbook covers
information related to Muslim Civilization in one chapter and information about
Christianity and Judaism in seven chapters.
