MOMocrats are happy to welcome guest poster Laura Ewing. Ewing is a retired educator and current educational advocate in Texas. When the State Board of Education was conducting hearings recently about rephrasing standards in science curriculum, Ewing testified in favor of educationally---rather than political or religious---based science curriculum. She eloquently explained why scientific education is so crucial to students, especially for future progress. Following is her testimony:
Testimony by Laura Ewing, Friendswood,
TX
Dear Members of the SBOE:
I
am here today as a retired public school educator and as a person who
cares so much about decisions impacting TEKS, testing and textbooks
that I ran for the SBOE in 2008. Most importantly, I am a parent
of a son who has attended public schools in Fort Bend as a kindergartner
and Friendswood from 1st through 12th grade.
He is now a college student at UTSA.
I
ask that you vote FOR the current language of the Science TEKS.
Our students must be educated with the ability to succeed in the 21st
century, and that means teaching them with scientific theories which
have been corroborated through research and testing.
In
December my family spent almost two weeks hiking in the Davis Mountains
and Big Bend. As I viewed the majesty of the mountains and terrain
formed by volcanic action and oceanic movement, I marveled at God’s
beautiful creations. And, I also realized that solid scientific study
has determined that these structures are billions and millions of years
old. We visited with a paleontologist/archeologist who has discovered
on his property the fossilized remains of a 75 million year old turtle,
first of its genus and species. It was important for my son to
hear about the methods used in scientific research of these lands and
this particular discovery. Our trip allowed him to use his 21st
century scientific learning, which includes his critical thinking skills,
to analyze the world around him. There was no need to discuss
whether or not the turtle has evolved. Critical thinking skills
were utilized in determining HOW the species has evolved.
I want for all of our 4.5 million public school children to continue
to learn scientific methods that will allow them to be successful in
their future endeavors and competitive in the 21st century
global economy.
I
have taught Sunday school at my local Methodist church for over a decade,
and as our junior high students discussed the story of Adam and Eve
this last Sunday, I realized again why I don’t want politicians politicizing
what and how issues of faith will be taught in public schools.
The lesson reinforced the role that houses of worship need to play in
educating our children in faith-based issues. Our students need
to be guided to their religious beliefs by their families so that they
truly have freedom of religion. Let’s support the role of public
school education in teaching science and truly prepare our students
for the 21st century. I know that down the street there is
at least one bill introduced to strip this body of much of its oversight
powers because the majority vote decisions have not been following process
and have politicized and jeopardized the education of our children.
You have the opportunity to show students, parents and the legislature
that you can make educationally sound decisions and not ones that promote
personal political agendas. Please open the door for our students to
learn and be successful in today’s world.
Thank you,
Laura Ewing
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