Crayons and Qurans

Religion: Controversy over exposing Michigan second-graders to world religions raises questions about the role of the public school | Mark Bergin

CHILDS: “The first time these kids hear the word Islamic, I don’t want it to be tied to terrorism.”

Michigan parent Mark Clifton was in for a surprise last December when his 7-year-old daughter came home from public school with an understanding of basic Islamic theology and a story about a nice older boy visiting her second-grade classroom to read a prayer from the Quran in Arabic. Troubled, Clifton complained to officials at Dorothy Miller Elementary in Canton, a school located just 25 miles west of the nation's highest concentration of Muslim immigrants in Dearborn. The grievance prompted genial assurances that nothing taught had violated the curriculum's cultural diversity guidelines.

Clifton was less than satisfied: "Quite honestly, I am shocked, appalled, and saddened that something like this can take place in a public school and be given the green light by school officials. Did I miss something here? If I were to walk into a public-school classroom and read from my Bible, the ACLU would be beating down my door."