Public schools grapple with Muslim prayer
A San Diego school adjusts its schedule to accommodate Muslim worship.
from the July 12, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Echoes around the nation
Other school districts have faced dilemmas as the number of Muslims in the US has grown. In 2005, a suburban Dallas school district allowed Muslim students to leave class to pray after it was confronted by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a bipartisan organization. "Teachers panic whenever they hear the word religion," says fund president Kevin "Seamus" Hasson, and some "think their job is to protect kids from secondhand faith."
Schools elsewhere in the country have made decisions quietly, such as allowing Muslim students to avoid strenuous exercise while they're fasting. In Dearborn, Mich., schools offer students the option of eating hot dogs and chicken nuggets made with meat that has been slaughtered in accordance with Islamic law. The Dearborn district, where at least 1 in 3 students is of Middle Eastern descent – some of which are Muslim – also schedules two days off during the Islamic holiday of Ramadan.
That may sound unusual, "but most Americans don't think about the fact that schools naturally accommodate Christians," says Lisa Soronen, an attorney with the National School Boards Association. "There's no school on Sunday, and we get days off for most of the major Christian holidays."
Ms. Soronen, who's gotten more questions about Islam and schools over the past two or three years, said it's unclear how courts might react to Muslim prayer rooms, because judges haven't addressed that particular issue.
Left-leaning groups like the American Civil Liberties Union have remained silent so far on the San Diego situation, suggesting that any legal action may come from the right. "The line is when the government comes in and says, 'We really think you ought to pray,' " says Mr. Hasson.
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