Caroline Walker is busy bashing public schools and American culture in three separate Dallas Blog articles today.
In the first, she recounts an old news story out of San Diego where a new teacher claims she was given a lesson plan that included an hour for Muslim prayer, led by a teacher's aide. In Ms Walker's headline, she describes this as "Dangerous Multiculturalism". I infer that she's opposed not to school prayer, but to Muslims, but who knows. In other words, maybe she thinks Christian prayer is OK because it helps assimilate the minority into the majority religion, but Muslim prayer is not OK because it fosters multiculturalism.
If the whistleblower's account is accurate, the school program is illegal.
If what happened instead was that students on their own prayed during recess, as the school maintains, then it would be legal. In fact, it would be illegal for the school to prevent them from doing it. The ACLU would defend the students if they sought legal help.
And if what happened was a principal gave a student a microphone and that student led a prayer during morning announcements, and all this happened in Texas instead of California, the school might be complying with the recently passed legislation in Texas, legislation certainly to be tested in court.
Somehow Ms Walker thinks this whole story is an argument in favor of school vouchers, ignoring the fact that this Arabic language program was originally started as a charter school. That school failed just before the start of this school year and was reabsorbed into the public school system too late to integrate it for this year. Charter schools provide the choice that Ms Walker says she wants. In this case, it led to the "multiculturalism" she doesn't want. So which is it to be? Choice or assimilation?
In the second article, titled, "Get Your Law of Inverse Proportion Right Here!", Ms Walker tells us that Utah doesn't spend much money on public schools but still has the highest high school graduation rate. She implies it's because Utah is a voucher state.
Hmm... Utah is also a Mormon state. Maybe Texans should cut public school spending AND convert from Baptists to Mormons. Get your Law of Cause and Effect right here! Wait. Dallas Blog doesn't stock it.
For the record, Utah is not a voucher state. At least none of those 2007 high school graduates were voucher recipients. Whether Utah's just passed voucher program survives a November referendum remains to be seen.
Finally, in the third article, Ms Walker reports a poll that indicates most Texans favor school vouchers.
Utah has a statewide referendum scheduled for November on its voucher program. Polls show a small majority opposing vouchers. We'll see then what the voters themselves in that state have to say.
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