An international organisation has called on Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, the State Legislature and the state Department of Education to investigate textbooks and instructional materials related to history, geography and social studies subjects, saying that these are filled with pro-Islam teachings that violate the US Constitution.
Laurie Cardoza-Moore, president of Proclaiming Justice to The Nations (PJTN), said the state should look into the curriculum adopted by the Tennessee Textbook Commission in 2013.
The group said there is mounting protests from parents, school board members and county commissioners from across the state about this.
"Many of these textbooks and instructional materials not only violate the US and Tennessee State constitutions, but they are also replete with historical inaccuracies, biases and values that do not reflect our communities across the state," Cardoza-Moore said.
She said Pearson Publishers, a leading textbook publisher in Tennessee, has connections to individuals, organisations and rogue state governments that have ties to terrorist groups.
She said many of these textbooks and instructional materials violate the Establishment Clause and a new Tennessee law.
The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) earlier sent letters to schools in Tennessee for copies of textbooks and instructional materials but the Tennessee School Board Association has blocked it.
Last year, Cardoza-Moore asked lawmakers to get an opinion from the state attorney general on whether the materials are legal, according to WND.
"I would also like to know if the Tennessee Textbook Commission violated their fiduciary responsibility by knowingly adopting these historically inaccurate textbooks," said Cardoza-Moore. "This puts our local school districts and county commissions at risk of a potential lawsuit because the textbooks and instructional materials do not comply with the new state law and clearly violate the US and state constitutions by favouring the establishment of Islam over all other religions."
Parents from two school districts in Tennessee contacted PJTN regarding a Powerpoint being used in their child's 7th grade classroom teaching about the religion of Islam.
The PJTN said the presentation included multiple misleading statements including glorification of jihad against infidels.
"Such materials expose a subtle and subversive campaign going on throughout this state and across this nation to rewrite history and promote values that threaten our Republic and undermine our own state laws," said Cardoza-Moore.
She added, "This type of blatant anti-Semitic, anti-Judeo/Christian and anti-American disinformation has no place in our public discourse and it certainly should not be taught to our future leaders. We have been told by some educators that we want our children to be able to think critically, but then undermine that goal by providing biased information that is historically inaccurate."
It was reported that the state Board of Education will hold a public review of the social studies texts while state Rep. Andy Holt is calling for changes in standards on how religion should be taught in public schools, saying students should be taught "our own cultural identity," according to Nashville Public Radio.
