Teacher publicly condemns program allowing Muslims prayer time during school
Carver Elementary School in San Diego, California has become part of a national debate over religion in schools after a substitute teacher publicly condemned an Arabic language program that gives Muslim students time for prayer during school hours. After gaining more than 100 students from a defunct charter school that had served mostly Somali Muslims, the school added Arabic to its curriculum. The substitute teacher said that a school aide had led Muslim students in prayers and claimed that religious indoctrination was taking place. An investigation failed to substantiate these allegations. However, critics continue to attack Carver for providing a 15-minute break in the classroom each afternoon to accommodate Muslim students who wish to pray. Some argue that the arrangement amounts to special treatment for a specific religion that is not extended to other faiths, while others critics believe it crosses the line into endorsement of religion. Supporters say such an accommodation is legal, if not mandatory, under the law. Muslims are required to pray at certain times, one of which generally falls between 1 and 2 p.m. Among the critics is Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, which is devoted to "defending the religious freedom of Christians." Mr. Thompson stated that he’s "against double standards being used," such as a specific period for Muslim students to pray and not similar arrangements for Christians. Carver and its supporters have pointed out that Christianity and other religions, unlike Islam, do not require their followers to pray at specific times that fall within school hours, when children by law must be in school. The uproar over Carver comes as schools across the country struggle with how to accommodate growing Muslim populations. "Our country is transforming demographically, religiously," says Edgar Hopida, the public relations director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Mr. Hopida goes on to say, "our country has to now accommodate things that are not traditionally accounted for before." Although courts have ruled on a series of school prayer cases over the past half-century, a lack of clarity remains. Voluntary prayers by students are protected private speech, however, school employees cannot lead children in prayer on campus. Brent North, a lawyer retained by the district to address concerns related to the Carver program, said "[t]he district’s legal obligation in response to a request that a prayer must be performed at a particular time is to treat that request the same as it would treat a student’s request to receive an insulin shot at a particular time."
San Diego Union-Tribune
By Helen Gao
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