So, Just How Many Teachers Are There in the State of Texas?
Skipping ahead, the answer is “A lot.” I was actually surprised to find out just how many teachers there are in the state of Texas.
But why ask the question in the first place? It’s not a “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” question. There has been a blog feud over the past week or so regarding Rick Perry, Aga Khan and a 2005-2006 seminar for about 80 Texas teachers regarding Islam and the teaching of world cultures in Texas public schools. World cultures instruction begins early in Texas schools and covers about what you’d expect: Cultures, traditions, religions and such around the world. Islam is going to come up, just as it did when I was a kid in Texas public schools farther back in the mists of time than I’d care to admit. The allegation regarding the Aga Khan seminar is that it’s not actually instruction, but a dawah, a call to Islamic faith, and makes Muslims out of the teachers. That’s not my view of the curriculum; I don’t think it’s a dawah. That’s the position held by some bloggers including Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer. I don’t know Geller personally, but I do know Spencer and consider him a friend and a very credible blogger. I do disagree with them on this story, though. They have made their case, but have not proven it, and their evidence backing up the incendiary charge against Perry, because he met with Aga Khan in 2002 to discuss the seminar, is quite weak. The evidence that Khan himself is a stealth jihadist is also quite weak. For one thing, unlike them I actually live in Texas and have a child in the schools here. If sharia is being taught here, it’s being taught with such stealth that it has had literally no impact at all. For another, the idea that Rick Perry is some sort of stealth sharia supporter is ludicrous and doesn’t square up with his very strong support for Israel at all.
But getting back to the question in the headline, the seminar was given to about 80 Texas teachers. Well, 80 out of how many? How proportionally large a group is this subset of teachers who some claim were indoctrinated by the stealth jihadist, Gov. Rick Perry? It turns out that Texas does publish the number of teachers in the public schools, and it turns out that that number was a political point of contention a little over a year ago, when conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan pointed out that Texas public schools employ a non-teacher for every teacher. PolitiFact checked out that claim (probably at the behest of Democrats who routinely enlist PolitiFact to engage conservatives to brand them liars and whatnot) and found out that Sullivan’s point is “Mostly True.”The proportion of non-teachers to teachers in Texas public schools is nearly one-to-one. Sullivan used that number to point out that there is substantial room to cut public school budgets without laying teachers off, and I rate that statement as “Entirely True.” Just check out the outrageous salaries public school superintendents pull down these days, for one thing.
So here’s the number: There are 321,092 teachers in public schools in Texas. There were probably a few more than 321,092 teachers in Texas in 2006, and there are probably a few less now — budget crunches have hit public schools everywhere. Statistically, the fluctuation probably doesn’t mean much though. Of that number, let’s say 322,000 just to have a round number, 80 teachers of the thousands who actually teach world cultures attended the controversial seminar. Of that number, at least one came away and drafted a curriculum that turned out to be very critical of Islam.
If that’s anyone’s idea of a stealth jihad, well, it’s so stealth as to be entirely meaningless. This whole story is just a rabbit that’s not worth chasing.
add in, teachers in texas aren’t particularly unionized. and they are hard-headed. and an amazing amount are religious. and patriotic.
the only time I have ever heard the word “shiftless” used in an actual conversation was with a principal talking about parents living on the dole. she was enraged- not at the kids- she thought the kids were great, hardworking, sweet, unguided- it was her job to teach them responsibility, organization, ambition, hard work, the lot- but she called the parents shiftless, lazy spongers.
I don’t think a muslim would have much chance against the whole school teacher by week, sunday school teacher by weekend brigade that populates most texas schools.
the ones not in this- umm, they stick out.
1:1 is a surprisingly good ratio for public schools. In most States, it is 1:1 at the school level, with hordes of “educators” at the higher levels.
Of course, at private schools, it is usually 1:4.
Bryan – Thanks for the info. Given the letter Perry wrote for Israel, I think this is much ado about nothing. Slightly off topic, but while I have your attention, can you inform us about where Perry stands on 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution? The reason I ask is that I have received e-mails from pro-2nd Amendment advocates saying that Perry will not say where he stand on the issue. So, any information you could provide would be very informative and useful.
Perry is very strong on the 2nd Amendment. I’ve gone shooting with him once myself, actually, and he’s clearly a veteran with firearms. Texas has concealed carry plus adheres to the castle doctrine, and Perry himself carries, even when he jogs. The man has a gun named after his incident with a coyote back in 2010.
So, I’m hard pressed to think of anyone out there who’s stronger than Perry on the 2ndA.
I seem to remember Roger L Simon going shooting with Perry too. Was that the same outing?
No, they were different events several months apart.
Bryan – Thank you very much for the response. I thought what you were saying is the case, but I get these e-mails from 2ndA types, and so I was just wondering. Anyway, here is the good news for Perry – He’s beating handily every GOP rival. See: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/08/29/cnn-poll-perry-romney/
Any number of entertainers and politicians in California have permits and carry, and are absolutely /against/ us plebs and commoners carrying. Okay, Perry carries. Good for him. Now, is he vocal and active in fighting for us socially inferior types being armed?
Add to that the fact that the Isma’ili branch of Islam is about the most cosmopolitan, integrated, modern form of Islam: it’s the direct opposite of the usual Shi’a, and doesn’t believe in the literal truth of the Q’uran, believing instead there is a “hidden” meaning that allows it to be interpreted within the context of modern events. They also believe that the struggle of jihad is a struggle with one’s own soul, not the outward struggle Wahhabist and “Twelver” Shi’a does.
I love Pamela to death but she sees conspiracies in everything.
Is that the same branch that spawned the assassins?
Your term “cosmopolitan” came up in a Spiegel interview with Khan. Can “cosmopolitan ethics” be found in the Qur’an? Is that what Hamas respects in Gaza? Cosmopolitan ethics?
excerpts:
Aga Khan: We should do everything to help him (President Karzai). He has an enormously complex agenda to deal with. He is our best hope. And besides, he is the elected leader and we have to work with the parliament.
SPIEGEL: Even if warlords and a former members of the Taliban are represented in Afghanistan’s parliament?
Aga Khan: You either accept the results of democracy or you don’t. Otherwise you talk about qualifying democracy.
SPIEGEL: That means the West should deal with the radical Islamist Hamas as well?
Aga Khan: You have to work with whoever the population has elected as long as they are willing to respect what I call cosmopolitan ethics. Now, it’s true that Hamas has a record of conflict …
SPIEGEL: … of outright terror …
Aga Khan: … but it would not be the only time that movements that have such a record make it into parliament, and even end up in charge of government later on…
Yes, but look at what he said a bit before your excerpt, and completing his last response:
SPIEGEL: Not many are functioning democracies.
Aga Khan: People speak about failed states. I do not think that states can fail, but democracies certainly can. The failure of democracy is not specific to the Islamic world. Indeed, about two years ago, the United Nations carried out an in-depth analysis of democracy in South America. About 55 percent of the population in South American states said that they would prefer to live under a paternalistic dictatorship instead of an incompetent or corrupt democracy that is not improving their living condition.
SPIEGEL: Most of your Ismaili constituency lives in states that cannot be called perfect democracies: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria and Iran. What makes democracies fail?
Aga Khan: I ask myself every day what we can do to sustain the multiple forms of democracy, to make these forms of government work, whether it is in Latin America, Africa or the Middle East.
SPIEGEL: And what do you believe to be the answer?
Aga Khan: I admit that I live in a mood of frustration. What is the point in these areas of the world of carrying out a referendum in a population that essentially cannot read and write? What is the point in testing a constitution with a population that knows no difference between a presidential regime or a constitutional monarchy? Elections, constitutions — all this is necessary, but not sufficient. I think we have to accept that countries have different histories, different social structures, different needs, so we have to be a great deal more flexible than we have been.
. . .
Aga Khan: … but it would not be the only time that movements that have such a record make it into parliament, and even end up in charge of government later on. Can I remind you of Jomo Kenyatta and his Mau Mau movement in Kenya, for example, or the ANC in South Africa? Take away the causes of extremism and extremists can come back to a more reasonable political agenda. That change to me is one of the wonderful things about the human race.
So what is he saying?
That perhaps it is better not to have democracy, especially with people who cannot handle one?
That if you still insist on a democracy in such a situation be prepared for the consequences?
That as despicable as they may be it is possible to reform some terrorists?
That he doesn’t want to whitewash anyone but that his followers are vulnerable to retribution if he denounces the wrong people so maybe he needs to hedge a bit?
If he is saying, perhaps it is better not to have democracy, especially with people who cannot handle one, I would agree with him. I’ve been sceptical of this this Utopian plan of implanting democracy in a part of the world that is not prepared for democracy; that is living in the seventh century. He does appear to be saying in the excerpts I quoted, “that as despicable as they may be it is possible to reform some terrorists.” Terror is part and parcel of authoritative Islam. It is in the Qur’an. It is in the Hadith. I think it would be naive to think Aga Kahn is not familiar with the deeds and the sayings of his prophet.
But if you read what I posted below, Aga Khan is not at the top of my list of concerns about Perry. Perry’s understanding or his misunderstanding of Islam is.
I have said this time and time again. It is not so much the left I worry about. It is the political right; my side. If we tolerate ill-informed (perhaps corrupted or compromised) leaders on our side, then this nation will continue to degenerate.
Given a choice between Obama and Perry, I don’t know that I have a choice but to vote Perry because Obama is destroying the institutions of this nation that made it prosper. My guess is, with a President Perry, we will see an economic recovery but the stealth jihad in America will proceed apace as it did under Bush and more so under Obama.
If conservatives continue on this path of low expectations from our Republican leaders, I fear something much worse than Obama will arise to guide this nation and it won’t be pretty.
Well, what exactly did people expect him to say?
“Why yes, my faith is completely corrupt, based only on violence, with no purpose other than to sate the perverted lusts of those in power, inciting and indulging outbreaks of frustrated violence on the part of those they oppress.”
And if he doesn’t say that he is obviously engaging in taqiyya, and plotting a stealth jihad; there is no way he could sincerely believe otherwise, he must be plotting the overthrow of the West, and to carry off Rita Hayworth and the rest of our women.
Without a viable condemnation of the Aga Khan, the entire charge against Perry starts to get thin very fast.
Thanks for this update on the continuing political class’s war on outsiders like Perry and Palin. Per Rasmussen Polls, the political class includes the media, as well as the elitists who populate Washington and New York and who do not recognize any other than fellow ivy leaguers. If this is the best they can come up with against Perry, who was vetted last year by the Democrats seeking to find some iota of crooked dealings in his past, they may be out of luck. Per the same polls over time, the American people’s attitudes and beliefs have been the exact opposite of the political class’s. The pundits are working overtime on taking Perry down, because he isn’t in the elitist camp, but neither are the vast majority of voters.
The governor is tough, as anyone watching his cool disposition during the election cycle last year has seen. Whether or not he wins the nomination, he’s speaking up for an end to the energy-destroying Al Gore scam of global warming and for rolling back the behemoth central government. He’s clearly a states rightist, and that has a lot of old guardians worrying.
Three questions:
1. The curriculum we presented explicitly says it was the fruit of the Perry/Aga Khan collaboration: “In April 2004, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and UT-Austin finalized a grant proposal that created the partnership that became known as the Muslim Histories and Cultures Program (MHC). Much has happened since the inception of the partnership. Creation and implementation of a model was of prime importance. MHC recruited and directly trained 80 teachers affecting approximately 15,150 students of World History and World Geography in ten key Texas districts during the two sessions conducted in 2005 and 2006. The purpose is two-fold 1) to fulfill Governor Rick Perry’s desire to better educate Texas teachers on Muslim topics and 2) to train teachers to use a cultural lens approach to understanding other cultures. Governor Perry was instrumental in getting this program off the ground….the curriculum for this project was developed at Harvard University and modified at the University of Texas at Austin.”
2. That curriculum is a complete whitewash, complete with authorities such as Carl Ernst, John Esposito and Maria Rosa Menocal. Even the egregious Islamic supremacist pseudo-moderate Reza Aslan is mentioned favorably. Since you say it’s so limited in scope, can you produce any Perry/Aga Khan curriculum that is NOT a whitewash of this kind?
3. If it is so innocuous and unimportant, why has it been completely scrubbed from the web?
Ah, yes. Conspiracy Theory 101: If it doesn’t exist, that’s irrefutable proof it exists.
Howard, last week you could click on the link(s). I did because I was following this news story. The curriculum was there for examination. After concerns became public about the Perry / Aga Kahn curriculum, the links no longer worked. Why was it scrubbed from the web? Where is the conspiracy?
Did you try Google cache? People at least should try to document something when they publicly allege a conspiracy.
No one has alleged a conspiracy. If for example, someone in the Perry campaign – I am only speculating – recommended the curriculum be scrubbed in order to avoid damaging the candidate with uncomfortable revelations, where is the conspiracy?
The ‘conspiracy’ was alleged in Spencer’s post, not yours. There are many ways to collect evidence. For example, Brady stole one of my articles. I found it on Google cache, and also saved a copy of their previous web page before it was scrubbed. (It is within fair use to copy like this for research purposes where one doesn’t profit directly, not cause the creator to lose commercial value.) In this way, when one alleges that pages disappeared, they at least have some evidence to support their allegation.
The way it’s going down here is the people making the allegations provided no supporting evidence. When one alleges something and then expects somebody else to provide all the evidence, it just makes the complainant look bad. That just ain’t the way things work.
Bryan, Governor Perry’s support for Israel is commendable. But let’s not forget former president George W. Bush was considered a good friend to Israel. Indeed, many called Bush “Israel’s best friend ever.” That did not prevent the Saudis from successfully pressuring him to unveil a “vision” for a Muslim state in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and Jerusalem only days after the 9/11 attacks. Bush made a Muslim-enemy state in Israel a formal goal of U.S. policy. He codified it in our national party platform, August 2004, for the first time in the history of the GOP.
President Bush pressured Ariel Sharon mightily to withdraw from Jewish land (Sharon chose Gush Katif, Gaza; Sharon caved) in order to shore up Bush’s Arab coalition against “terrorism.” Perry’s relationship with Aga Khan is not at the top of my list of concerns. More urgent to me is his apparently close association / friendship with Grover Norquist. It has been mentioned in Perry’s defense, several of the candidates have had contact with Norquist on tax-related matters. I would strongly urge people to educate themselves on Mr. Norquist and his activism in behalf of the “stealth” jihad in America. Read Frank Gaffney on Norquist. Google “A Troubling Influence.” That is a good place to start. Norquist should be shunned by every thinking conservative. He is very bad news. Perry allegedly vacationed with Norquist.
Also of concern is Governor Perry’s view of Islam, Islamic jihad, etc. Like former President Bush, it would appear Perry has not read any good or authoritative scholars on Islam, like Robert Spencer who you mentioned above. For example, only days after the 9/11 attacks, Perry like Bush put out a misleading statement to the public. Perry wrote in part:
“I ask that all Texans be mindful that the attacks on New York City and Washington are not the work of the Islamic faithful, but the work of terrorists – of fanatics – who have hijacked the name of religion for their campaign of hatred…..Like most of the world’s major religions, the Islamic faith preaches peace, love and tolerance. Indeed, terrorism is the antithesis of the basic tenet to which the one billion Islamic followers all over the world adhere.”
Does Governor Perry still believe this ten years out from the September 2001 attacks? From what I have read, he does indeed continue to believe this. For those who are national-security minded, foreign policy ‘realists’ and supporters of Israel, how are we to find this kind of sentiment re-assuring? This is the kind of nonsense Bush (who I voted for) propagated for seven years post 9/11. Is it any wonder Americans elected Barack Obama, a man whose sympathies are clearly with the world of Islam?
Let’s not toss out the First Amendment here, either. I googled and found a bunch of the regular bloggers referencing bloggers stuff, but nothing real authoritative or well-documented. So here’s the deal:
Do you have evidence that this Khan fellow is actively working against the Constitution? If not, then a chill pill is in order on this ‘Perry supports sharia’ meme.
Otherwise we’re using alleged conservative values to damage the Bill of Rights. Not good.
This country was founded on religious freedom, as enshrined in the First Amendment. Banning public involvement simply on the basis of being Muslim, or some other non-Christian religion, is the wrong approach.
Big caveat: I’ll welcome any religious creed as long as they act (words are cheap) with 100% support of our Constitution. That means things like: women have equal civil and political rights; sharia never takes precedence over Constitutional legal standards; American military is not a target (e.g. Fort Hood) just because we’re in the Middle East right now.
Howard, since the 9/11/2001 Muslim-terror attacks in New York and Washington, who or what have you read? What scholars on Islam have you studied?
The question here is Khan, not other self-appointed experts on Islam. The allegation was that Perry is somehow a sell-out to Islamic terrorists just like Obama, because he supported 80 teachers attending a workshop on Islam. That’s the implication by Gellar and Spencer in Bryan’s original post.
We still live in a country where people are innocent until proven guilty. Show me the evidence on a case-by-case basis, in this case Khan.
By the way, along that line, I didn’t claim that any specific Muslims or sects pass the Constitutional test, only that they should do so or not live here. Just like libs should move to Cuba or Europe if they think socialism is so great, so there are plenty of countries where Muslims can live in their sharia Utopia.
Spencer’s not said Perry is “somehow a sell-out to Islamic terrorists just like Obama.” Not just Spencer but others have brought forward information that is troubling to counter or anti-jihadists.
Perhaps you’ve see or read this: http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2011/08/rick-perry-and-islam.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FromNyToIsraelSultanRevealsTheStoriesBehindTheNews+%28from+NY+to+Israel+Sultan+Reveals+The+Stories+Behind+the+News%29
Like I wrote above, #7 – I guess you did not bother to read it – Khan is not my only nor my primary concern, but Perry’s understanding or misunderstanding of Islam. There is much more. It is indefensible that U.S. president or a governor is ignorant with respect to a vital national-security matter as this one, especially post 9/11. By means of your statement, “self-appointed experts” on Islam, your mind is little doubt made up. Why bother or confuse you with any facts?
When you present no facts, you cannot use that dodge of “confusing with the facts.” So Perry has business relations with some people who are Muslim. I still don’t see a well-drawn path from allegation to conclusion. Not to worry. That’s not your job. It’s Spencer et al. And watch the ‘confuse with the facts’ usage. That’s a double-edged sword. The citation you provided is a blog that mixes fact with agenda to create a certain impression of Perry’s political and business dealings. If reliable sources can provide evidence Perry’s a Muslim sell-out, I’ll be happy to write about it. The original issue was Gellar and Spencer making allegations and not providing credible citations, and that’s where the focus of this should remain. It’s not about you and me.
Howard Nemerov – I would dispute your statement that Islam is a religion. It is totalitarian political ideology wrapped in a pretense of religion. On Spengler’s blog, here at PJM (Spengler = David P. Goldman) there is a long series of comments and counter-comments about those who think Islam is a religion and those who don’t. Count as one who doesn’t, and so I think First Amendment rights might not apply. They certainly would not apply to Imams and mosques preaching sedition against the US Constitution or the violent overthrow of the US government.
Howard, Perry’s statements, “be mindful that the attacks on New York City and Washington are not the work of the Islamic faithful, but the work of terrorists – of fanatics – who have HIJACKED (emphasis mine) the name of religion for their campaign of hatred…..Like most of the world’s major religions, THE ISLAMIC FAITH PREACHES PEACE, LOVE AND TOLERANCE. Indeed, TERRORISM IS THE ANTITHESIS OF THE BASIC TENET to which the one billion Islamic followers all over the world adhere,” are these factual statements are are these falsehoods?
Just as I suspected……silence.
To Sam above.
I posted the following exchange of an interview with Aga Khan:
Aga Khan: You either accept the results of democracy or you don’t. Otherwise you talk about qualifying democracy.
SPIEGEL: That means the West should deal with the radical Islamist Hamas as well?
Aga Khan: You have to work with whoever the population has elected as long as they are willing to respect what I call cosmopolitan ethics. Now, it’s true that Hamas has a record of conflict …
SPIEGEL: … of outright terror …
Aga Khan: … but it would not be the only time that movements that have such a record make it into parliament, and even end up in charge of government later on…
You wrote: “Well, what exactly did people expect him (Aga Khan) to say?
‘Why yes, my faith is completely corrupt, based only on violence, with no purpose other than to sate the perverted lusts of those in power, inciting and indulging outbreaks of frustrated violence on the part of those they oppress’.
….Without a viable CONDEMNATION of the Aga Khan, the entire charge against Perry starts to get thin very fast.”
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I think you just offered one.