Once again, some members of the Texas state board of education are leading by example. And they're performing masterfully, if their goal is to produce students who cheat on their homework.
As (both of) our faithful readers know, Jeremy's "Collapse of a Texas Quote Mine" demolished any pretenses TSBE Chair Don McLeroy had to honest scholarship. Writer Lisa Falkenberg exposed McLeroy's duplicity today in the Houston Chronicle:
The conservative bloc also will try and keep two amendments hastily presented and approved in January that cast doubt on the fossil record and a basic tenant[sic] of Darwin's theory: common descent.
Board Chairman and ardent Darwin-denier Don McLeroy, R-Bryan, pushed through one of the amendments after reading aloud a long list of quotes attempting to cast doubt on evolution from reputable science publications and authoritative books by revered scientists. McLeroy never directly claimed that he culled the quotes himself. But as he held up the books he was quoting from, and talked about checking out volumes on evolution at his local library, I certainly got the impression he'd done his own research.
Copied research?
But blogger and Kansas biology teacher, Jeremy Mohn, revealed McLeroy's bad clip job in his extensive blog posting, "Collapse of a Texas Quote Mine." Mohn also provided the context and authors' explanations lacking in McLeroy's quote list.
Mohn discovered McLeroy had lifted much of the research from another creationist blog. McLeroy's quotes were in virtually the same order, and he repeated a page number error.
McLeroy acknowledged to me that he had copied some of the research from the creationist site because he liked "the format," although he said he had indeed read one of the books. He added: "A lot of the quotes I did get on my own."
Yet another fine testament to the level of scholarship that goes on at the State Board of Education.
Board Chairman and ardent Darwin-denier Don McLeroy, R-Bryan, pushed through one of the amendments after reading aloud a long list of quotes attempting to cast doubt on evolution from reputable science publications and authoritative books by revered scientists. McLeroy never directly claimed that he culled the quotes himself. But as he held up the books he was quoting from, and talked about checking out volumes on evolution at his local library, I certainly got the impression he'd done his own research.
Copied research?
But blogger and Kansas biology teacher, Jeremy Mohn, revealed McLeroy's bad clip job in his extensive blog posting, "Collapse of a Texas Quote Mine." Mohn also provided the context and authors' explanations lacking in McLeroy's quote list.
Mohn discovered McLeroy had lifted much of the research from another creationist blog. McLeroy's quotes were in virtually the same order, and he repeated a page number error.
McLeroy acknowledged to me that he had copied some of the research from the creationist site because he liked "the format," although he said he had indeed read one of the books. He added: "A lot of the quotes I did get on my own."
Yet another fine testament to the level of scholarship that goes on at the State Board of Education.
So the chair of the Texas state board of education has been caught cheating on his homework. Will he admit this fact to his fellow board members at this week's meeting and retract his earlier, plagiarized statements? Or will he still expect to be rewarded for his cheating ways?
We all know how an ethical person would behave in this situation. In a couple of days, we'll find out whether McLeroy has any shred of ethical behavior left in his heart.
posted by Cheryl Shepherd-Adams
