ING Supports Department of Education Actions on Harassment and Bullying

10/26/10- Good news! Around the time of the start of the current school year, ING had repeatedly urged the Department of Education to send a notice to schools nationwide that would reinforce policies against harassment and bullying. We were very concerned about the impact of the NYC Islamic Center controversy on the safety of Muslim, Arab and South Asian students. Our initiative included an ING letter to Secretary Arne Duncan.

We were informed that our effort had initiated a series of conversations within the Department and White House on how to best communicate the urgent issue of bullying to schools and the national public. We were happy to see that the White House included several statements on tolerance of diversity and intolerance of harassment in President Obama’s Back to School speech.

Today, we are very excited to report that the Department of Education has released a comprehensive statement and action plan that includes technical training for teachers nationwide, as well as a White House conference, on combating harassment and bullying in schools.

We urge you to distribute this information widely, particularly to school administrators.

Thank you,

Maha Elgenaidi – President
Islamic Networks Group (ING)