Tennessee Lawmakers Approve Plan To Quell Fears Of Islamic Indoctrination In Classrooms

School districts in Tennessee will soon have to hold open hearings on how they teach religion.

That’s one feature of a plan approved Monday by state lawmakers to respond to claims schools have secretly been “indoctrinating” students with a sanitized version of Islam.

The state Senate voted 29-1 to send
House Bill 1905 to Gov. Bill Haslam. The move appears to cap a tumultuous eight months in which school boards across Tennessee were targeted by activists who claimed textbooks, handouts and assignments were whitewashing negative aspects of Islam. The campaign left
many school boards feeling besieged.

Supporters of the measure passed by the legislature say it’ll reassure parents who are uncertain what their kids are learning.

“Everything’s out in the open. So everybody knows what’s going to be happening in the schools,” says state Sen. Mike Bell, the Riceville Republican who sponsored the measure. “I know some of the complaints that I even heard locally were about school districts that were not forthcoming when parents called up and asked, ‘What exactly is being taught?'”

Complaints were centered on social studies classes in middle school. That’s when students take world history, and they’re supposed to be introduced to the tenants of most major religions, according to updated teaching standards approved by state education officials in 2013.

The criticism forced education officials to agree to a yearlong review of the standards. That began in January — two years ahead of schedule.

State legislators thought about rewriting those standards but in the end stopped short. Instead, their plan leaves final decisions to the State Board of Education and local school boards.

It calls on school boards to release materials to the public and allow comment on them before the school year begins. The plan also bans materials that proselytize on behalf of any religion.

The biggest criticism of the proposal came from state Sen. Lee Harris, D-Memphis, who said it leaves districts too little time to fulfill the new requirements.

Backers say they’ll have plenty of time if they begin preparations immediately. The proposal goes into effect as soon as it’s signed by Gov. Bill Haslam.