Schools in the Fountain Valley district will not change the way they portray Islamic history to 7th-graders.

After a long, contentious meeting Thursday night, a unanimous school board declined to go further with a proposal by Fountain Valley resident Steve Jackson that they provide supplemental material to the district's 7th grade social science textbook. Jackson contends the textbook shows a "totally positive view of Islam at the expense of accuracy."

After listening to 18 speakers on the matter, board members said they felt they didn't have the authority to determine whether supplementary material, which had not been state approved, could be used in district classrooms. . .

Islamic activists have strongly objected to the supplementary materials. Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the material quoted from the Qur'an, but without context. (More)