Notta
27 Mar 2009, 12:10 PM
The Texas State Board of Education, voting on whether to include language in the state science standards about teaching evolution's "strengths and weaknesses" had a split 7-7 vote last night, effectively upholding an earlier ruling that would not insert such language into the standards.
More on the story here: (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/032609dntexevolution.72be216f.html)
The tie vote upheld a preliminary decision by the board in January to delete the strengths-and-weaknesses rule in the new curriculum standards for science classes that will be in force for the next decade. That decision, if finalized in a last vote today, changes 20 years of Texas education policy.
Because the standards spell out what must be covered in textbooks, science educators and publishers have been monitoring the Texas debate closely. As one of the largest textbook purchasers in the nation, Texas influences what is sold in other states.
I liked this quote in the story:
Board member Ken Mercer, R-San Antonio, proposed that the rule be put back into the standards, arguing that evolution advocates were trying to stifle classroom discussion of Darwin's theory that humans gradually developed from lower life forms.
"I don't see how we can say there is no disagreement about evolution. There is disagreement," said Mercer, taking issue with science teachers and academics who told the board that the theory of evolution is universally accepted in the scientific community. He cited a document by hundreds of scientists questioning some of Darwin's tenets.
He also charged that evolution advocates have a history of falsifying evidence and drawing erroneous conclusions to support their position.
He sounds like Dave Hawkins, doesn't he?
More on the story here: (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/032609dntexevolution.72be216f.html)
The tie vote upheld a preliminary decision by the board in January to delete the strengths-and-weaknesses rule in the new curriculum standards for science classes that will be in force for the next decade. That decision, if finalized in a last vote today, changes 20 years of Texas education policy.
Because the standards spell out what must be covered in textbooks, science educators and publishers have been monitoring the Texas debate closely. As one of the largest textbook purchasers in the nation, Texas influences what is sold in other states.
I liked this quote in the story:
Board member Ken Mercer, R-San Antonio, proposed that the rule be put back into the standards, arguing that evolution advocates were trying to stifle classroom discussion of Darwin's theory that humans gradually developed from lower life forms.
"I don't see how we can say there is no disagreement about evolution. There is disagreement," said Mercer, taking issue with science teachers and academics who told the board that the theory of evolution is universally accepted in the scientific community. He cited a document by hundreds of scientists questioning some of Darwin's tenets.
He also charged that evolution advocates have a history of falsifying evidence and drawing erroneous conclusions to support their position.
He sounds like Dave Hawkins, doesn't he?