Dem Rep. Carson: US Public Schools Should Be Like Muslim Madrassas

A Democratic congressman has found himself at the center of a storm after claiming that American schools should be more like Islamic ones.

Rep. André Carson of Indiana — one of only two Muslims in Congress — claimed the country will always miss out unless it changes its education system to resemble faith-based schools such as the Islamic madrassas.

Rep André Carson (AP Photo)

“America will never tap into educational innovation and ingenuity without looking at the model that he have in our madrassas, where innovation is encouraged, where the foundation is the Koran, and that model we are pushing in our schools meets the needs of our students,” Carson said.

The three-term congressman from Indianapolis spoke at the Islamic Circle of North America in Hartford, Conn. on May 26, but video only surfaced when it was posted by WorldNetDaily.

“America must understand that she needs Muslims,” said Carson. “There are over 7 million Muslims in this country. And while we are under attack, we cannot retreat.”

Since the video came to light, Carson has claimed his comments were taken out of context, saying his speech addressed Islamaphobia.

He told the Indianapolis Star, “This is a message that I’ve given consistently to Christian groups, Jewish groups.

“The question becomes for me, ‘Why are the graduation rates higher at faith-based institutions? What are they doing that we might be able to extract from that? That is not an argument saying that we should remove separation of church and state, because I think that is important in the public sector.”

And he told the Huffington Post, “I do not believe that any particular faith should be the foundation of our public schools, it is important that we take note of the instructional tools these schools utilize to empower their young people.”

It is not the first time that a Carson speech has sparked outrage. Last year he said the tea party would like to see black people "hanging from a tree."