As I described last week, Dr. Daniel Bolnick wrote a letter to Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott that has now been signed by over 150 of his fellow Texas Biology professors.
The letter was prompted by the forced resignation of Chris Comer, the former director of science curriculum at the Texas Education Agency (TEA), and it argued that TEA employees should not be forced to remain neutral on evolution.
Commissioner Scott has now written back to defend his agency's actions, saying:
It is my expectation that agency staff members will be mindful, particularly on policy matters, that anything said will be scrutinized and may be interpreted as representing a position of the agency or State Board of Education. This controversy is an example of how closely policy makers and the public examine this agency's every word and action.
In response to this, Dr. Bolnick wrote a well thought-out letter that is both clear and compelling.
Part of the letter reads:
The Board's position on science education should be to provide the best and most accurate science possible, regardless of the political consequences. There are times when public bodies need to lead, and this is one of them. Speaking on behalf of my colleagues, I urge both the Board and the TEA to exercise such leadership by issuing statements that unambiguously support the teaching of evolution and omission of intelligent design in public classrooms. The full weight of scientific evidence would be on your side. The scientific community is agreed that evolution should not only be taught, but taught in a straightforward manner, unqualified by alleged "weaknesses" that are invariably based on faulty logic or misrepresentations of available data.
Bolnick went on to invite Commissioner Scott to discuss the details of evolutionary biology with university faculty members from across the state of Texas.
Will Commissioner Scott honor the invitation?
Stay tuned to find out.
posted by Jeremy Mohn
