John Pieret makes a very good point on his blog Thoughts in a Haystack. He points out that many American high school teachers avoid teaching evolution in their classes because it's too controversial. They'll skip that section of the curriculum even if it's required by the school board. "Who needs the hassle from parents," they say.This fact needs to be widely known. It means the IDiots are winning in spite of the court cases that go against them. (John will probably disagree with this point.) If evolution is being removed from classrooms—and all the evidence suggests that it is—then we're fooling ourselves if we think the good guys are winning.
Stand up and protest if you think this is happening in your school district [Sounds of Silence]. Even better, encourage our students to take to the streets. You'd be surprised at how many of them want a decent education.
[Photo Credit: "Joining nationwide demonstrations, high-school students in Valparaíso [Chile] take to the streets on May 30 [2006] to protest [for] proposed changes in Chile's public education system." Eliseo Fernandez—Reuters /Landov (Encyclopedia Britanica Online)]
5 comments :
I hope she's wearing underwear.
It means the IDiots are winning in spite of the court cases that go against them. (John will probably disagree with this point.)
On the contrary. While I, as a lawyer, want the law on the side of secularism and science, I'm under no delusion that court decisions alone will automatically translate into good education, any more than the 14th Amendment alone resulted in equal treatment of blacks in this country. It took many years of work and suffering before we got to even a nominal equality.
The Kitzmiller decision is one good tool for people who are interested in proper education to use against anti-science officials, but tools have to be used to be effective. They do nobody any good if they are left to gather rust in the toolbox.
Given that teachers are taking this non-action as a means to avoid confrontation with parents (and, presumably, some students and other people), how would one go about determining this is happening in one's local school board?
I think most teachers avoiding teaching evolution would not be advertising this action. I'd be happy to protest should this be occurring in my area, but how would I know?
I don't teach biology this year [taught AP overseas though] and want to let you know many of us use evolution from start to end. I'm not sure if its misleading to say this but I always call it the biological grand unified theory.
I'd be happy to protest should this be occurring in my area, but how would I know?
Parents and students would be in the best position to tell, of course. If there is controvery over evolution in your area, try to find like-minded parents, push for meaningful state and local science standards and then demand accountability from the school board that evolution is being vigorously taught. Those are the best thought I have early in the morning but I'm sure there are other ways as well.
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