Stotsky Authors Chapter About Saudi Influence on U.S. Education

Sandra Stotsky, holder of the Twenty-First Century Chair in Teacher Quality at the University of Arkansas, wrote a chapter called "The Stealth Curriculum" in Saudi Arabia and the Global Islamic Terrorist Network, a book published by Palgrave Macmillan.

The book is edited by Sarah Stern, founder and president of Endowment for Middle East Truth, a Washington-based think tank/policy center that describes itself as dedicated to educating policy-makers and the general public regarding the threat of radical Islam.

According to the book, Saudi Arabia influences American policy through both conventional and unconventional methods, ranging from lobbying and endowments to think tanks, policy centers, universities, and workshops for schoolteachers, all due to the petro-dollars that have been generated from America's addiction to foreign oil. Contributors to the book include James Woolsey, former director of the CIA; Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum; Steve Emerson, terrorism expert; and Bat Yeor, author of Dhimmi: Jews and Christians under Islam.

Stotsky has written and given media interviews about the information she gathered on the Saudi influence on curriculum while she was senior associate commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Education. Her chapter in this book is an updated and shortened version of a report she wrote for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in 2004 based on proposed lesson plans on Islamic history and culture by teachers who had attended a weeklong workshop organized by the Outreach Coordinator for Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Her focus in this chapter is the Arab World Studies Notebook, a Saudi-funded collection of essays that were used in this workshop.

The Notebook is published jointly by the Middle East Policy Council and Arab World and Islamic Resources and School Services. The Middle East Policy Council receives direct funding from the Saudi Arabian government and sponsors workshops about the Arab world and Islam for teachers. Arab World and Islamic Resources and School Services, which receives funding from Saudi Aramco, the Saudi-owned oil company, runs the workshops and distributes printed materials and videos.

The Notebook is currently at the center of a dispute about the history curriculum in the Newton (Mass.) Public Schools.