Accommodating Muslim High Schoolers In Seattle

How to accommodate the religious needs of Muslim high school students to offer prayer 5 times each day has become a difficult problem for schools. Today's Seattle Times details some of the techniques being used in the Seattle School District. These include setting aside an empty classroom for Muslim student prayer sessions, and excusing students early on Friday afternoon so they may attend prayer services at a nearby mosque. Some, like Andy McDonald on the blog Sound Politics, criticize the setting aside of classrooms saying that this places Islam in a privileged position by making it the only religion that may be practiced officially during the school day.