Texas education board adopts anti-Islam social studies standards

The new standards require high school students to learn about "the teachings of jihad" and how "radical Islam" motivated 9/11.(CN) — The Texas State Board of Education voted Friday to approve new high school social studies standards that disparage Islam.The new standards, which are set to take effect in 2030, require students to learn how “radical Islam” motivated the 9/11 attacks and “the teachings of jihad” led to the “conquest of Christian lands.”The new standards also require schools to teach about the history of early Islam “in terms of the Prophet Mohammed’s brutal military campaigns against Jewish and Christian tribes, the normalization of slavery and the taking of female captives as harem slaves.” A content advisor for the board said in a report this standard “uses characterizations that don’t hold up to close historical scrutiny.”She also warned the standards for world history use language “that characterizes Islam and Islamic history in a manner inconsistent with the neutral, descriptive standard applied to other religious and cultural traditions covered in the course.”Earlier this year, the board voted to remove a proposed standard that would have had schools teach about Muslim contributions to algebra and astronomy.Critics of the new standards say they are discriminatory toward Islam and Muslims. At a press conference Tuesday organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, speakers decried the anti-Islam language in the standards, saying they portray a distorted view of Islam and could lead to mistreatment of Muslim students.“I have been told multiple times that, ‘Oh, you’re a bomber. How many bombs did you drop today?’ Or that I celebrate 9/11 — when I was born 10 years after it happened,” said Abdelrahman Azami, a Muslim high school student in Austin, Texas. “We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for our rights … to be treated equally as Christians, Jews, Hindus, or any other religion.”Courthouse News reached out to the Texas Education Agency, which implements State Board of Education policies, for comment on the new standards and their criticisms, but they could not be reached ahead of the Labor Day holiday.The approval of the social studies standards follows a vote by the board in June to approve a list of required readings for K-12 students that was criticized for including Bible stories.These changes to educational standards come amid a broader battle over the role of religion in Texas public schools. In April, the Fifth Circuit greenlit a Texas law mandating the Ten Commandments be posted in every public school classroom. A multifaith coalition of students and parents challenging the law has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and block it.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads