On July 14, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) wrote a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice requesting that the State Department investigate the content of controversial textbooks at the Islamic Saudi Academy, a school some claim teaches hate and intolerance. He asked the secretary to “convene a meeting of relevant State Department and [U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom] representatives… to conclusively determine, prior to the start of the 2008 school year, what precisely is being taught at ISA and what steps, if any, need to be taken.”
“We’ve got to get to the bottom of it, one way or another,” said Dan Scandling, a Wolf spokesman. “Either clear the school, and let’s move on, or if there are problems, let’s get these books out of there.”
On July 15, an investigation conducted and released by the Washington Post found that as of 2006, the school was using textbooks “that compared Jews and Christians to apes and pigs.” However, the same investigation concluded that the school removed most, but not all, of the offensive material in time for the 2007-2008 school year.
Scandling said the report did not fully address Rep. Wolf’s concerns. “We’ve got to get the problems solved,” he said.
Also on July 14, AdvancED, the parent organization of the school’s accreditation association, announced that “recently reported events concerning the Islamic Saudi Academy suggest a violation of accreditation standards.” In response, the organization demanded more information on the curriculum taught in the school as well as a “detailed response” to assorted charges of teaching intolerance. AdvancED officials said they are according the academy due process while they attempt to determine “if a Special Review Team will be sent to the school and/or if there is enough information to warrant a change in the school.”
As of press time, academy officials were unreachable for comment.
