Alonzo
06-17-2008, 04:07 PM
A bill that was overwhelmingly passed by the Louisiana House of Representatives could change the way public school teachers approach controversial topics such as evolution, global warming, the origins of life and human cloning.
Teachers would be able to supplement information from a school science textbook with additional materials under the bill. On Wednesday the House passed the bill, 94-3.
The measure advocates "critical thinking skills, logical analysis, an open and objective discussion of scientific theories being discussed."
In the House version the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the school board must approve supplemental materials. The Senate already passed the bill, and with House changes to the bill, Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, the bill's handler in the Senate, has indicated he will support the change and push it to a re-vote in the Senate.
Tim Tate, who handles the Lafayette Parish Public School System's science curriculum, said he's not worried about the bill, and the system will continue to focus on the state curriculum.
Separation of church and state groups like the Louisiana Coalition for Science oppose the bill, and co-founder Barbara Forrest said the bill would "open the door for creationism in schools."
"What this will do is give a green light to school boards to allow teachers to use creationist supplements in the schools," she said.
Louisiana Family Forum, a conservative Christian lobbying group based in Baton Rouge, spearheaded the bill and approached Nevers, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee.
Although executive director of Family Forum Gene Mills said the goal is not to push religion through this bill, the group's mission states that they "persuasively present biblical principles in the centers of influence on issues affecting the family through research, communication and networking."
Mills insists that the bill does not promote creationism and points to a clause in the bill that said the language should "not be construed to promote any religious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against religious beliefs or promote discrimination for or against religion or nonreligion."
That language in the bill is taken directly from an academic freedom bill template from the Discovery Institute, a group that promotes intelligent design.
John West, the Discovery Institute's vice president of public policy and legal affairs, said the group has supported the bill and hopes passage of the bill would allow supplemental materials such as Discover Evolution, a book written by Discovery Institute staff that disputes some Darwinian findings.
Similar bills were considered in South Carolina, Missouri, Alabama, Michigan and Florida this year.
http://www.dailyworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080616/NEWS01/806160304/1002
I really hope Idiocracy isn't prophetic. If it is then science is doomed.
Teachers would be able to supplement information from a school science textbook with additional materials under the bill. On Wednesday the House passed the bill, 94-3.
The measure advocates "critical thinking skills, logical analysis, an open and objective discussion of scientific theories being discussed."
In the House version the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the school board must approve supplemental materials. The Senate already passed the bill, and with House changes to the bill, Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, the bill's handler in the Senate, has indicated he will support the change and push it to a re-vote in the Senate.
Tim Tate, who handles the Lafayette Parish Public School System's science curriculum, said he's not worried about the bill, and the system will continue to focus on the state curriculum.
Separation of church and state groups like the Louisiana Coalition for Science oppose the bill, and co-founder Barbara Forrest said the bill would "open the door for creationism in schools."
"What this will do is give a green light to school boards to allow teachers to use creationist supplements in the schools," she said.
Louisiana Family Forum, a conservative Christian lobbying group based in Baton Rouge, spearheaded the bill and approached Nevers, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee.
Although executive director of Family Forum Gene Mills said the goal is not to push religion through this bill, the group's mission states that they "persuasively present biblical principles in the centers of influence on issues affecting the family through research, communication and networking."
Mills insists that the bill does not promote creationism and points to a clause in the bill that said the language should "not be construed to promote any religious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against religious beliefs or promote discrimination for or against religion or nonreligion."
That language in the bill is taken directly from an academic freedom bill template from the Discovery Institute, a group that promotes intelligent design.
John West, the Discovery Institute's vice president of public policy and legal affairs, said the group has supported the bill and hopes passage of the bill would allow supplemental materials such as Discover Evolution, a book written by Discovery Institute staff that disputes some Darwinian findings.
Similar bills were considered in South Carolina, Missouri, Alabama, Michigan and Florida this year.
http://www.dailyworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080616/NEWS01/806160304/1002
I really hope Idiocracy isn't prophetic. If it is then science is doomed.