Creationist Threats in Texas, Florida, and South Carolina
While "intelligent design" advocates have yet to really regroup after their disastrous defeat in the highly publicized Dover-Kitzmiller trial, all is not well. New anti-science rumblings are being heard, and some of these are tied to old-school creationists, some of them of the "young earth" variety:
- Texas #1 - The Comer Controversy: There is a furor surrounding the forced resignation of science curriculum direcotr Christine Comer from the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Ms. Comer's offense? She forwarded an email (using her TEA email account) announcing a lecture by Barbara Forrest, a nationally prominent expert in the philosophy and history of science who served as an expert witness for the prosecution in the Dover trial. The NCSE has been covering this issue closely. See the latest in the Comer controversy. 150 PhD biology faculty members from Texas universities have written a very powerful and articulate letter Defending Biological Evolution as a Central Pillar of Modern Science Education.
- Texas #2 - ICR Teacher Certification: The Institute for Creation Research, one of the oldest creationist groups in the U.S., is getting some traction in its efforts to get certification from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. If successful, they would be able to award the Masters in Science Education degree to students who complete their online distance learning program. See the coverage at Texas Citizens for Science (motto: "Don't Mess With Textbooks").
- Florida - Science Standards: The current Florida science education standards, drafted in 1999, don't even mention the "E" word - evolution - and earned the state an "F" grade in the Fordham Foundation's State of the State Science Standards 2005. A new set of draft standards is greatly improved, gives thorough coverage of evolution, and has earned praise from expert reviewers. But creationists have mounted a vigorous protest campaign, and the outcome is uncertain. See this NCSE article. For good local coverage check out the Florida Citizens for Science, and their special call-to-action Christmas Project "All I want for Christmas is a Good Science Education." The Washington Times recently ran this AP news wire article, to which the Alliance for Science's Dick Lessard wrote this letter in response (which the Washington Times elected not to publish).
- South Carolina - textbooks need "further study": Kristin Maguire, a homeschooling mom was recently elected head of South Carolina's State Board of Education, and it wasn't long before the effects were felt. At the most recent meeting, the State Board of Education withheld approval of two highly respected biology textbooks, citing the need for "further study." One of the textbooks in question is Miller & Levine's Biology (Prentice-Hall), the very same textbook that the now-ousted Dover Area School District's Bill Buckingham said was "laced with Darwinism." This excellent and crisply detailed article by South Carolinians for Science Education President Rob Dillon is a "must read" for anyone wanting more details. The article gives precise details on how the textbooks were sent to two young-earth creationist referees, who wrote some tedious detailed criticism (only of the sections on evolution), to which textbook co-author Professor Ken Miller wrote a painstaking point-by-point rebuttal.