Over 100 Texas Biology professors sent a letter yesterday to Robert Scott, the commissioner of the Texas Education Agency (TEA), arguing that agency employees should not be required to remain neutral on the subject of evolution. The Austin American-Statesman has the story.
The letter was prompted by the recent forced resignation of the state's director of science curriculum, Chris Comer.
Part of the letter reads:
It is inappropriate to expect the TEA's director of science curriculum to "remain neutral" on this subject, any more than astronomy teachers should "remain neutral" about whether the Earth goes around the sun. In the world of science, evolution is equally well-supported and accepted as heliocentrism. Far from remaining neutral, it is the clear duty of the science staff at TEA and all other Texas educators to speak out unequivocally: evolution is a central pillar in any modern science education, while "intelligent design" is a religious idea that deserves no place in the science classroom at all.
Last Sunday, Commissioner Scott was interviewed for a "Point of Contact" Q&A in The Dallas Morning News. He claimed that the firing was not about the curriculum standards.
The following exchange hints at what the forced resignation was really all about:
Why shouldn't the agency advocate the science of evolution? Texas students are required to study it.
I don't think the impression was that we were taking a position in favor of evolution. We teach evolution in public schools. It's part of our curriculum. But you can be in favor of a science without bashing people's faith, too. I don't know all the facts, but I think that may be the real issue here. I can't speak to motivation but ... we have standards of conduct and expect those standards of conduct to be followed.
I don't think the impression was that we were taking a position in favor of evolution. We teach evolution in public schools. It's part of our curriculum. But you can be in favor of a science without bashing people's faith, too. I don't know all the facts, but I think that may be the real issue here. I can't speak to motivation but ... we have standards of conduct and expect those standards of conduct to be followed.
From that answer, it seems that Comer was forced to resign because her decision to forward that email was perceived as "bashing people's faith."
Say the words "litmus test" to any science educator and they'll probably think of an acid-base indicator. For Texas's former director of science curriculum, that phrase likely conjures up an entirely different image.
posted by Jeremy Mohn
