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December 20, 2005
One lesson from Intelligent Design's big loss in PennsylvaniaA federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Dover, Pa. school board violated the Constitution when it ordered that its biology curriculum must include the notion that life on Earth was produced by an unidentified intelligent cause. AP report here. "We find that the secular purposes claimed by the Board amount to a pretext for the Board's real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom," he wrote in his 139-page opinion. The controversy divided the community and galvanized voters to oust eight incumbent school board members who supported the policy in the November 8 school board election, AP reports.
One thing seems clear: Those on ALL sides politically love to use public schools as their convenient culture war battleground. But kids don't have time for this. Especially these days. Save the politicizing of the classroom for another era, long after this country's academic challenges have all been solved. Sound good?
And while we are at it, how about a fast read of the new book by Joe Williams, Cheating Our Kids: How Politics and Greed Ruin Education. Here is an interview with Williams in USA Today. (Hat tip: Eduwonk.)
NSBA praised today's decision in its press statement below.
The National School Boards Association praised today's decision handed down by a federal court that ruled a school board cannot require the teaching of intelligent design in science classes. The court stated that the policy, passed by the Dover, Pa., School Board, violates the Establishment Clause, which ensures the separation of church and state.
"We applaud the decision because in his well-reasoned opinion, the judge expertly applied sound Supreme Court precedent that declares unconstitutional the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom," said Anne L. Bryant, NSBA executive director. "We especially agree with the judge's statement that intelligent design is creationism masquerading' as science."
The court recognized that public schools are the battlegrounds for culture wars and lamented the drive of special interest groups in seeking a test case that "resulted in an imprudent and ultimately unconstitutional policy."
"NSBA wholeheartedly endorses the court's opinion that students, parents, and teachers deserve better than to be dragged into a 'legal maelstrom, with its resulting utter waste of monetary and personal resources,'" said Francisco Negrón, NSBA general counsel. The court also recognized that the case arose as a result of "ill-informed" activism aided by national special interests.
Posted December 20, 2005 5:33 PM | Curriculum | Religion
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Comments(1)
Posted by: Colin Purrington on January 3, 2006 5:00 PM
The desire by educators to teach evolution to children is based on the facts that evolution is central to biology and that biology is increasingly central to the world's economy. So educators' zeal to teach evolution to young children should be viewed as a reasonable response to the United States becoming more and more behind in science literacy. The parallel to heliocentrism education should be brought up here. Once upon a time, discussion of heliocentrism was hugely unpopular, to the extent it could get its proponents jailed or killed. But it was true, and now it's a part of elementary school education. It might take another 100 or 200 years before the public is ready to relinquish creationism, but it will be a good thing when it does. And when that day comes, we will see evolution being taught to elementary school children, and it won't make their heads explode. Of course, by that time the United States will be dead last in the global biotechnology marketplace. School board members, and especially school board organizations, should support strong science, even if some members are not fans of strong science. Show some spine.
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