Since Dearborn is your hometown (I know it well, I'm originally from Detroit) can you tell us the truth about Fordson High School? We are hearing reports from talk radio that prayer time and prayer rooms have been put aside for student use during the school day for Muslim students. We are also hearing that the ACLU in Michigan are terrified to touch this.
Any truth to this?
I used to teach at Fordson High as a student teacher and as a substitute teacher. This was back in the 70s and 80s, so most of my knowledge today is based on what I hear and read.
I do recall hearing about rooms being set aside where students could engage in silent contemplation, pray, meditate, etc. and they were not just for Muslim students. That being said, I would estimate that FHS is now about 80-90 percent Arabic in its student composition. I don't know the exact teacher composition, but my guess based on what I know about the teaching staff of the Dearborn Public Schools is that "regular" subjects (e.g., not bilingual courses) are mostly taught by non-Arabic, non-Muslim teachers.
The ACLU, of course, would be terrified to touch any issue involving prayer at FHS. But this is no surprise, since the ACLU also keeps its hands off the prayer that goes on inside most urban schools today. As a teacher in Detroit, I regularly heard prayers and hymns going out over our public school's PA system. Every time a student would die, after the Challenger disaster, we heard a prayer or a hymn.
This is one of the ACLU's dark secrets.