Texas battle over science curriculum can affect entire US, derail Obama's science commitment

As science goes in Texas, so might science go in the rest of the nation. And by goes, I mean "down the tubes."

The New York Times explains it best:

The latest round in a long-running battle over how evolution should be taught in Texas schools began in earnest Wednesday as the State Board of Education heard impassioned testimony from scientists and social conservatives on revising the science curriculum.

The debate here has far-reaching consequences; Texas is one of the nation’s biggest buyers of textbooks, and publishers are reluctant to produce different versions of the same material.

That's an important thing to keep in mind as the Texas State Board of Education engages in a semantics debate that boils down to whether science should be kept scientific ("analyze and evaluate scientific explanations using empirical evidence") or get watered down further to appease the religious right that wants to backdoor creationism into science curriculum ("strengths and weaknesses").

The two parenthetical phrases are crucial in this debate, as the New York Times explains:

Scientists and advocates for religious freedom say the battle over the curriculum is the tip of a spear. Social conservatives, the critics argue, have tried to use the “strengths and weaknesses” standard to justify exposing students to religious objections in the guise of scientific discourse.

“The phrase ‘strengths and weaknesses’ has been spread nationally as a slogan to bring creationism in through the back door,” said Eugenie C. Scott of the National Center for Science in Education, a California group that opposes watering down evolution in biology classes.

Martha Griffin of Musings said:

While you expect the testimony on the creationist side to be alarming, even more alarming are the remarks by certain SBOE members. Keep in mind, the anti-science board members have the votes to pass science standards which will undermine science education in Texas - science content in the classroom will be inaccurate, and far right Christian beliefs, rather than evidence-based science will be written into the TEKS and textbooks (which will be in place for the next 10 years.)

If that isn't chilling enough, consider that six other states are on board with Texas's plan:

Already, legislators in six states — Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri and South Carolina — have considered legislation requiring classrooms to be open to “views about the scientific strengths and weaknesses of Darwinian theory,” according to a petition from the Discovery Institute, the Seattle-based strategic center of the intelligent-design movement.

Alan Silberberg of You2Gov said, "By teaching non science as science we miss important things like how to use science to get ahead, stay ahead, make cures, etc. Also, by trying to remake history, we set up future generations for failure in Sciences when competing against India, China etc."

MOMocrat Cynematic agreed, "Great observation: nations not burdened with fundie Christianity (China, India) are free to pull ahead in sci/math/tech."

Cynematic's point is one of the main reasons the Obama Administration has vowed to restore science as a top priority in the US. Obama promised to restore science to its rightful place in his inaugural address.

In a New York Times article, Frank Press, a former president of the National Academy of Sciences and former science adviser to President Jimmy Carter said, "If you look at the science world, you see a lot of happy faces. It’s not just getting money. It’s his recognition of what science can do to bring this country back in an innovative way.”

Science can bring the US back. It is ingenuity, creativity, and innovation that makes the US a world leader. Hopefully, those happy faces won't turn sad and Texas will fail in its attempts to derail science and innovation in order to fulfill backwards faith-based agendas.

You can follow liveblogging of the Texas State Board of Education's hearings at the Houston Chronicle's chron.commons.

Comments

[julie]

My son's bio teacher, in Arizona, had to mention the intelligent design idea in lectures, so he would just mention it in passing, like "evolution (insert long lecture here), or intelligent design, if that's what you believe."

Fortunately his high school was very progressive, so that when teachers ignore the stupid rules about ID and abstinence only sex ed, they don't get hassled, and the kids get the education they should.

[Judy in KY]

I wish certain states would just secede from the Union and let the rest of us get on with our lives!

[Donna]

This is the kind of stuff that truly scares me (and it even happens in districts in "blue" California). Cynematic is correct in her correlation with the rise of "intelligent design" and our diminishing capacity to produce young scientists.

[julie]

Whoops. Just realized part of my comment got lost or something...

But it is horrifying to me that my kids' teachers, that any teachers, have to teach complete crap because somebody somewhere thinks that evolution is counter to Biblical teachings. I hope President Obama can keep his promise to restore science to its rightful place.

[Julie Pippert]

Julie, I heartily agree with you and hope the very same thing. I can't believe this is allowed, but at least some organized and impressive people are fighting it...hard.

Donna, I know. me too. And she is.

Judy, I've hmm'd and haaa'd about what to say in reply to that. I know it's mainly flippant/sarcastic, but it's also mean, a bit. You know?

I don't think we need to think in terms of throwing out babies with bathwater. I don't agree with what these people are doing, and think it's very wrong. But to say that because we don't like something we ought to toss it, and everything else along with it? Hmm, feels bad to me. I may not like a lot of crap here in Texas, but it IS my home, and the US IS my country too.

It's like I said about GWB: thank goodness he was the American President b/c anywhere else he'd still be the country's dictator. Luckily, because this is a democracy, he's limited to eight years, as is each President.

The differing views balance each other out, if we do it right.

And I have to hope we can and will.

[Kathleen]

What I find absolutely ridiculous is that 'creationism' is not the only religious story of the beginning of the world. This is not only putting religion in science courses, it even dictates which flipping religious tradition are taught. Wow talk about wiping out the line between church and state. When I first moved to KS I was floored that the state was even having this same debate. Eight years ago, we were a national laughing stock. Now the semantics have changed and it is taken seriously? It's not science no matter what you call it. It's religion and it belongs in the home or the church. Or if providing all examples of religious explanations for the 'beginning' and if taught from a historical or sociological perspective (not experiential one) maybe creationism could be taught in public school, but in a Humanities, History or Sociology class, not a science course.

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