More Information on Friendswood-CAIR Presentation

The following posting was made on the Houston Chronicle's Education Blog late Saturday night.

To me, it is an obvious attempt of a school trying to cover its tracks and get out of a sticky situation. It also shows the possible "misrepresentation" of CAIR.

Please read the following and post your comments and thoughts in the comments section regarding what you think about this.

It's Saturday, but Karolyn Gephart, Friendswood ISD's public information officer, apparently was working. She e-mailed me a copy of Superintendent Trish Hanks' letter to parents about the now-controversial presentation that students at Friendswood Junior High School received from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (earlier blog post).

Hanks said she signed off on the presentation for administrators and staff -- not for students -- but there apparently was a miscommunication between a deputy superintendent and the school's principal. Hanks also revealed that the presentation was prompted by an incident involving a student that the American-Islamic council considered a hate crime.

Here's the entire letter.

May 31, 2008

Dear Parents and Community Members:

In response to an incident that occurred between students at Friendswood Junior High School and the perception and fear that it caused to some involved, Robin Lowe, principal, was contacted by the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and told that they considered the incident a hate crime and had reported it to the FBI. Mrs. Lowe and Sherry Green, Deputy Superintendent, attended a meeting with representatives of CAIR. At the meeting, CAIR requested an opportunity to present factual and basic information about Muslims to students at Friendswood Junior High School since the school is predominantly Anglo Christian. Anticipating this request, I instructed Mrs. Green that the district would welcome the presentation to administrators and staff only, but not for a student presentation. This has been the way the District has handled other requests by groups interested in raising our awareness of the culture of our students who are minorities in Friendswood. After administrators have listened to others' concerns, we discuss the issues we are having in FISD schools and the appropriate way to address them for our students. After the meeting, I was told that a presentation would be scheduled with the administrative team. It is obvious now, that a misunderstanding occurred between two very competent and dedicated administrators.

In the midst of activities during the final two weeks of school, Mrs. Lowe was contacted by CAIR and asked to schedule the presentation. Mrs. Lowe hastily scheduled the presentation and notified me and Mrs. Green the day before the presentation by email. Neither Mrs. Green nor I saw the email until the following day when the presentations were occurring or had occurred.

From what I have been told, the content of the presentation was informational. My concern for our community and for our students is not as much with the content of the presentation as explained to me, but with the fact that a group had an audience with our students without consent from parents or this administration. I consider parental trust critical to our success as a district. This trust was violated and I deeply regret that.

I am not surprised by the community's reaction. Most of you receiving this letter have had years of experience with this district and know the kinds of activities your child has been exposed to in school. This was an isolated incident and a mistake. I am implementing corrective actions to ensure that a similar situation does not occur again.

Friendswood is a faith based community and founded on these principles. The school district has always and will continue to honor that heritage.

Sincerely,

Trish Hanks

"If a bird looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck."- British Standard Duck Test

Muslim Presentation at Junior High Draws Fire

There is a discussion evolving on the Houston Chronicle website. It is about a junior high school in Friendswood, Texas allow two women from CAIR to present a lesson on Islam. The discussion is pretty heated with both sides going toe to toe with each other.

My post on the site is as follows:

School officials should be investigated and fired for this stupid move. In
addition, parents need to get a truckload of lawyers and sue everyone involved. This is a blatant example of religion being allowed in school. We have a separation of church and state in this country!!!"

That is exactly would the liberal democrats would be saying if Christianity was presented in a school in this matter. Where is their fury? Where is their disgust? Where is their anger? I know where it is. It is too busy helping getting Hilary RODHAM Clinton and Barack HUSSEIN Obama elected to a job neither is qualified to do, in order to be politically correct and (in their words) effect change!

If Christians or Jews were ever to do the same thing, certain
groups would be up in arms. That is the point I was trying to make.

"Liberals hate America, they hate "flag-wavers," they hate abortion
opponents, they hate all religions except Islam (post 9/11). Even Islamic
terrorists don't hate America like liberals do. They don't have the energy. If
they had that much energy, they'd have indoor plumbing by now." - Ann Coulter

The Last Few Days of School are CRAZY!!!

I have been doing a great deal of thinking lately. We have one week of school left and more and more things are coming to mind.

I was standing outside my door between classes today (as we are required to do, but few teachers actually do) and I watched the sea of student humanity passing to their next class. Shirt were untucked, ID badges were not being worn, baggy pants were in abundance, and PDA was in full display.

For those of you who do not know what PDA is, I will explain. PDA is an acronym for "public display of affection."

Young men and women (in reality, boy and girls) walking to class hand in hand. I even caught a glimpse of two girls holding hands. My students know not to do that (any PDA) around me, but it has become impossible to stop it all.

Couples; boy-girl, a few girl-girl, and (thank goodness, no boy-boy action) hug and give a kiss to each other before they go into the class. It does not happen around my room. I always hurry them into the class before they have time to "engage."

What concerns me is that I see administrators walking the halls and they see the same "action" that I do. Some walk right by it and others make a "half-assed" attempt to break it up. They will say "You guys stop that" or "Get to class" while walking by the couple. They do not even stop to make sure their command is followed.

No wonder the students do not listen and comply. They know there is too much action going on and the administration/faculty cannot deal with it all.

One of the things I notice is how many good, level-headed girls are hooking up with, what I call, pieces of trash. They are nice, polite girls. These girls hook up with them, hugging and kissing in the hall. After that, you know what happens next.

The number of pregos, as we affectionately call them, in my classes have increased three-fold this year. I have had a total of twelve pregnant girls this year, out of 90 total students.

As soon as they get pregnant, they show up in class, with a note from the school nurse, stating they may have water (drinks) in class, they can leave the class anytime they need to go to the bathroom, and they can be dismissed early from class to give them time to get to the next class. Some of them have due dates 7-8 months away and they still have the note.

To me, the pregos are getting special privileges for getting pregnant. In addition, the couples have also been given special privileges to "engage" each other in the halls, as I surmise few teachers and administrators are willing to be labeled a pervert or accused of rocking the boat for correcting them.

Some administrators have shut down along with certain teachers. It is a shame because I think we should be vigilant until the final second of the last day of school. But I am considered a dinosaur in my building. That is a title I am proud to wear.

I will continue to correct, remind, encourage, and in certain cases, harass students to do what is right until the last second of the last day of school. After all, that is what I am paid to do.

N.J. Vice Principal Makes Students Sit on Floor for Lunch as Discipline

An assistant principal at an elementary school in Camden, New Jersey is being accused inappropriately punishing fifteen fifth-grade students for making them eat their lunches with sitting on the gym floor.

Parents and activists called the incident an example of prejudice against Hispanics as the AP was black.

New Jersey state education officials say the punishment was inappropriate because it was demeaning and unsafe. The officials also found the punishment was not biased since it was common for non-Hispanic students as well.

The week long lunch detention stemmed from behavioral problems in their bilingual class.

This is totally ridiculous. The punishment was demeaning and unsafe. YEAH...RIGHT.

I see students sitting on the floor or ground all the time eating their lunches at my high school. So what is the big deal?

The big deal is a group of parents and activists FEEL it was wrong. I am sure it had nothing whatever to do with their being Hispanic. Since they were in a fifth-grade bilingual class, I wonder how many were criminal aliens?

I would be willing to bet the majority of them were illegally in the United States. I bet ICE would love to meet these students and their parents.

OPPS...it would not matter. By federal law, schools cannot check immigration status or require proof of citizenship or legal residence (in the country) to allow them to be in school.

That is another issue that raises my blood pressure. I will go off on that at a later time.

"Without discipline, there is no Marine Corp." - R. Lee Ermey