Teaching about Islam stirs anger, change in Georgia schools
When it comes to learning about Islam, the line between teaching and proselytizing is so close in some parents' minds that it caused a flare-up of tension in Walton County last week.
A group of parents there pressured school board members, and met with them and the media about this issue. The pressure they created reached the state education department, which removed a teaching guide on the subject.
Learning about Christianity, Judaism and Islam, three monotheistic faiths from the Mideast, and the way they influenced history, is part of learning about the world in middle school social studies classes. However, some of the Georgia parents objected to a worksheet saying all faiths worshipped “the same God,” and complained the lessons had crossed the line into doing more than teaching about religion. Some threatened to withdraw their children from the classroom when the subject of Islam came up.
You can read the story of what happened at myAJC.com.
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
