Texas to determine fate of science textbooks Where did we come from is the science question... - Amanda Compton Thursday, March 26, 2009 By Haley Rush Update:The Board of Education for the state of Texas will vote this week on a new science curriculum.$0One single word has parents, educators, scientists, and students fighting a long-term battle in schools across the state of Texas. Passionate testimonies from social conservatives and scientists have been discussing their plea to the State Board of Education to revise the science curriculum. The word that is creating such an emotional controversy is evolution. $0$0$0$0$0Texas is one of the largest buyers of textbooks, and publishers are hesitant to produce different versions of the same material. Many teachers and biologists fear that the Board will force publishers to include Darwin’s theory of evolution and support a more Biblical view of evoultion. In the past years, the education board has lacked the votes to change the textbooks, but this year it is presumed to be fairly close. $0$0$0$0$0Recently, social conservatives obtained seven of fifteen chairs on the Texas board. A dentist named Dr. Don McLeroy is the Chairman of the Board. In 2003 he pushed for a more skeptical version of evolution in textbooks, but could not achieve the majority of the vote. Dr. McLeroy does not believe in Darwin’s theory. He strongly believes that the Earth’s appearance is a recent geologic event that is not 4.5 billon years old as scientists say but only thousands of years old. $0$0$0$0$0"Texas Citizens for Science strongly criticizes the Texas State Board of Education for nominating three anti-evolutionists and intelligent design creationists to the six-memberScience Standards Review Panel," said Steven Schafersman, Ph.D.$0$0$0$0$0The main focal point of this debate is the state’s curriculum that enjoins students to critique not just Darwin’s theory, but all of the scientific theories. Texas has remained with the “exploring the strengths and flaws” standard for twenty years. It was originally passed to please the religious conservatives, but studies have shown teachers rarely pay close attention to it. However, a panel of teachers assigned to revise the curriculum proposed that teachers should instead urge the students to analyze and evaluate scientific explanations using empirical evidence. $0$0$0$0$0Religious advocates and scientists battle over the evolution issue. Many people have argued that the Board has used the strengths and flaws theory to justify religious views and belittle scientific views. Kelsey Carlisle, a senior said, “I believe that everyone is making too much of a fuss about evolution. Students are going to believe what they want to believe about things and also what a parent teaches creates a bigger influence than what other people say.”$0$0$0$0$0The National Center for Science in Education believes the Board has tried to bring creationism (the doctrine that matter and all things were created, substantially as they now exist, by an omnipotent Creator, and not gradually evolved or developed) and intelligent design (a theory that nature and complex biological structures were designed by intelligent beings and were not created by chance) through the back door. The National Center for Science in Education opposes watering down evolution in biology classes. $0$0$0$0$0Legislators in six different states have already asked their classrooms to start using the strengths and flaws theory. Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, and South Carolina are the states that want to follow in Texas’s footsteps, according to the Discovery Institute, a strategic center in Seattle. $0$0$0$0$0Stephen Meyer, the director of the Discovery Institute and an expert on the history of science agrees that The Board is fighting for academic freedom and fighting against what has been seen as biologists fanatic with Darwin. Biologists have fought back by saying Mr. Meyer and other Board Members are ignoring the majority of the evidence collected over the years supporting Darwin and his theories. $0$0$0$0$0Freshman Ryan Behrle said, “I think evolution should be taught because I think students should have a chance to hear different viewpoints in the world. I am really religious and no matter what I learn, I will always believe in God."$0$0$0$0$0Many people believe textbooks treat evolution as more than a theory. Some parents believe that biology teachers intimidate children when the subject of evolution is brought up. No matter what side one might prefer, the final vote will be in March. The education system could soon be teaching the one word “evolution” that has caused such a controversy with Texas textbooks. $0

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