Wayne Schools Investigate Quiz Choices Some Parents Found Anti-Muslim

WAYNE, NJ — Wayne Township Schools officials have apologized to concerned parents, who contacted the district about a questions on a quiz that they said showed harmful anti-Muslim bias.

The online makeup assessment was given to seventh-graders at Schuler Colfax Middle School on the second-to-last day of school, and district officials said they're looking into the program that helped tailor the quiz questions.

The main question at issue asks students to select a terrorist organization with a "goal of achieving global rule under strict Islamic Sharia law" from among these choices: "The Shining Path," "al Qaeda," "Palestinian Liberation Organization," and "Islamic State," which was the correct answer.

Parents and some activists said the framing of that question and its answers reveals an anti-Muslim sentiment and explicit bias "that is perpetuated in schools - not only in Wayne but in many schools across the country."

Referring to the group as simply the Islamic State when it is also commonly known as ISIS and ISIL a "further indoctrinates students to link terrorism with Islam," said an educators' organization called Teaching While Muslim.

The wording also implies that those who follow strict Sharia law are terrorists, said the group, which has a stated purpose of confronting discrimination and implicit bias in classrooms, while offering resources to other teachers.

Wayne Township Schools Superintendent Dr. Mark Toback said the assignment was for a social studies class, and told Patch that he could not comment on the teacher involved.

Toback said the district received "numerous emails" about the quiz and the class, and that officials took immediate action when they first heard of parents' concerns that day on Tuesday, June 18.

"The question was offensive and contrary to our values of respect, inclusivity, and cultural sensitivity," says the email, which was sent to those who wrote in to express concerns.

The Teaching While Muslim group posted a screenshot of one of the test questions on June 19, saying the wording reflected anti-Muslim hate and was factually inaccurate. The group later provided more reasons the question was problematic, and showed another question that they said further perpetuates stereotypes in the classroom.

Toback said the district is reviewing its use of a software program that is used as a classroom resource, and that the test question was derived "in part" from that unnamed software.

He provided Patch with a letter that district officials sent to those who had emailed in.

“Such incidents are unacceptable and do not reflect the standards we uphold for our educational community,” Toback's letter said. “We understand the deep concern and disappointment this has caused among students, parents and the broader community.”

The New Jersey office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ) said they welcomed the quick response from administrators, and that Wayne Schools officials met with them and the Islamic Center of Passaic County on June 21.

Both CAIR-NJ and the Teaching While Muslim group are calling for better training for teachers and faculty members about Islam and Muslims, saying that all teachers and students "deserve to attend school without feeling fearful of such insinuations and macro-aggressions."