Fox News' Todd Starnes is reporting that the parent, whose name has not been released, discovered that her daughter was participating in a geography class at school in which some students volunteered to dress up in burqas. The image found its way on Facebook and has now gone viral.
As shocking as it was to the parent, it only got worse when her daughter explained the backstory.
According to the students, they were told the purpose of the class was to "change their perceptions of Islam." They were instructed to stop calling people who commit terrorist attacks "terrorists" and instead refer to them as "freedom fighters." In addition, they were asked to write an essay based on a Washington Post story that blamed Egypt's troubles on democracy rather than on the Muslim Brotherhood that effectively runs the country.
“I am outraged,” the angry mother told Starnes. “I felt my blood pressure go through my head.”
She had no idea what her daughter was learning in school until she saw the Facebook page.
“As parents we should have been made aware this,” she said. “I felt like the line had been crossed.”
According to Starnes, "the parents immediately contacted the principal of the high school who defended the program and said it was required under CSCOPE – a controversial electronic curriculum system that provides online lesson plans for teachers."
They were told by the principal that it was a world geography class and the students had to learn this material.
Starnes then contacted Janice VanCleave, a vocal critic of the CSCOPE program and the founder of Texas CSCOPE Review. She said the education program is without question promoting the Islamic religion – and students are not given the full story.
“They are not telling students how these young women are treated in this religion,” she told him. “In the Islamic countries women are not treated well at all.”
This is not the first time CSCOPE has come under fire. At a state hearing held last month, evidence was presented showing that CSCOPE offered several questionable lessons about Islam such as instructing teachers to read selected texts from the Koran and to teach students that Allah is God.
But it gets worse. According to a recent report in The Blaze, the CSCOPE curriculum itself is very secretive and parents are not permitted to review the lessons being taught in school. If they request access to the lesson plans, they're told to visit the school and let a teacher show them an online lesson.
Teachers are also complaining that the strict guidelines of the program are oppressive and force them to deliver the content verbatim and only on scheduled days. Even worse, teachers are asked to sign a contract preventing them from revealing what is in the CSCOPE lessons or face criminal and civil penalties.
The Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) was described as being "virtually shut out of the decision making on CSCOPE" which means the program lacks oversight by the state board.
Thankfully, on Friday, Feb. 8 the state of Texas announced that it had reached an agreement with the Texas Education Service Center Curriculum to bring about sweeping changes in the program.
But until these plans are implemented, CSCOPE will continue to promote Islam in Texas schools.
"Something strange is happening in Texas," Starnes writes. "Public schools are embracing Islamic values and traditions while Christian values and traditions are being given the boot."
He adds: "And unless parents rise up and put a stop to the Islamification of their school system – the Bible Belt could very well become the Koran Belt."
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