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acroyearYour state delegates now have two bills before them promoting the garbage that is "Intelligent Design".
House Bill 1228 would require school boards to "permit the teaching or discussion of the theory of intelligent design in humanities or philosophy classes" and moreover require it to develop and disseminate instructional materials for that purpose. Note that yes, this bill slips it in there among language that prohibits it from being used in science classes and insists it doesn't "require" it to be taught at all. Hence the catch: even if the school board rejects ID, they are required to spend money to create a "class" for it knowing it won't ever be taught.
House Bill 1531 would establish one of those obnoxious "Teachers Academic Freedom Act"s to "expressly protect the right of teachers identified by the United States Supreme Court in Edwards v. Aguillard ... to present scientific critiques of prevailing scientific theories; and [to] expressly protect the right of students to hold a position on any views." This text, is lifted straight from the rejected Santorum amendment to the No Child Left Behind act, and of course restricts the ability of a school or school board to terminate a teacher for teaching the "scientific views" of Intelligent Design (even though they know, thanks to Dover, that it will lead directly to a $1,000,000 lawsuit in seconds). This, of course, ignores the fact that there are no such scientific views or information for ID except that it isn't scientific at all.
An online petition is available to sign, but you're better off calling or writing to your state delegates.
Oh, and scientific and educational ignorance still knows no party. Both bills were introduced by a Democrat, Emmett C. Burns, Jr. of District 10.
Friends, its your tax dollars that will be thrown away on lawyers if you let these pass. Write NOW!
House Bill 1228 would require school boards to "permit the teaching or discussion of the theory of intelligent design in humanities or philosophy classes" and moreover require it to develop and disseminate instructional materials for that purpose. Note that yes, this bill slips it in there among language that prohibits it from being used in science classes and insists it doesn't "require" it to be taught at all. Hence the catch: even if the school board rejects ID, they are required to spend money to create a "class" for it knowing it won't ever be taught.
House Bill 1531 would establish one of those obnoxious "Teachers Academic Freedom Act"s to "expressly protect the right of teachers identified by the United States Supreme Court in Edwards v. Aguillard ... to present scientific critiques of prevailing scientific theories; and [to] expressly protect the right of students to hold a position on any views." This text, is lifted straight from the rejected Santorum amendment to the No Child Left Behind act, and of course restricts the ability of a school or school board to terminate a teacher for teaching the "scientific views" of Intelligent Design (even though they know, thanks to Dover, that it will lead directly to a $1,000,000 lawsuit in seconds). This, of course, ignores the fact that there are no such scientific views or information for ID except that it isn't scientific at all.
An online petition is available to sign, but you're better off calling or writing to your state delegates.
Oh, and scientific and educational ignorance still knows no party. Both bills were introduced by a Democrat, Emmett C. Burns, Jr. of District 10.
Friends, its your tax dollars that will be thrown away on lawyers if you let these pass. Write NOW!
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-21 09:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-21 09:11 pm (UTC)Might be worth a column on it, though...