Ga. school district abandons stickers ("Evolution is a theory, not a fact.")

[deadparrot]

ATLANTA - A suburban Atlanta school board that put stickers in its high school science books that said evolution is "a theory, not a fact" abandoned the legal battle Tuesday after four years.

The Cobb County board agreed in federal court never to use a similar sticker or to undermine the teaching of evolution in science classes.

In return, the parents who sued over the stickers agreed to drop all legal action.

"We certainly think that it's a win not just for our clients but for all students in Cobb County and, really, all residents of Georgia," said Beth Littrell of the ACLU of Georgia.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061219/ap_on_re_us/teaching_evolution

[Drum]

1. And I for one will be trying to find one of those stickers on eBay! nt

[VegasWolf]

2. Yes, and a big win for rational, intelligent people everywhere. nt

[varun]

3. Thse nutcases only understand the language of lawsuits

and when it starts hurting their pocketbooks....

Cobb county is also infamous for "gays and not welcome here" resolution during 2006 Olympics.

[BootinUp]

4. I love the smell of anti-science stickers burning in the morning.

Or the afternoon, it smells like....victory. :)

[drm604]

5. I wonder how much that school board cost the taxpayers of Cobb County with this nonsense.

:grr:

[Donnachaidh]

10. probably not as much as that *laptop* scheme they had

And no one has gone to jail over YET. :rant:

[drm604]

13. Laptop scheme?

Tell us more.

[Donnachaidh]

15. They tried to pull a bait and switch on taxpayers

They wanted to buy 63,000 iBooks for teachers and students

You can read about it here:

http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2005/07/cobb_county_ibook_program_a_tr.html

"The county’s district attorney has been asked to determine whether the bidding process was rigged to make sure that Apple became the favored supplier. His investigation will likely lead to a grand jury probe. And the school board — in what appears to be a rare sign of independence from its superintendent on the issue — has decided to hire an auditing firm out of New York to look over the whole bidding procedure."

It was a real mess, and it seemed for awhile someone should go to jail.

Of course, this was going on at the same time the sticker business was raging.

[jcrew2001]

6. ed

It just amazes me how much christian zealots hate education. Do they want their children to grow up to be illiterate retards. Apparently they don't want their kids becoming doctors or curing cancer, that would 'blow their minds'.

[rpannier]

8. That's because we're

outsourcing things like medicine

The only things they want our kids to know is

1. How to say "Would like your order supersized?"
2. I believe that Jeeeeeezusssss wants meeeeee to vote republikkan and give all my money to GAWWWWDDD!!!!
3. All hail george bush
and
4. How to be a target in some war to increase the bank accounts of the super wealthy.

[seleff]

7. Irony is that Cobb has some very good science magnet HS programs

I taught some kids from Cobb in a summer enrichment program. Some of their Science magnet HSs had a really advanced curriculum and the students were dynamite. Fortunately it looks as if the Board wised up. Hooray for the kids.

[Donnachaidh]

11. Wheeler program is great, but don't discount their regular HS

The newer ones are pushing great science programs too. Kell is supposed to be one of the good ones.

[cali]

9. What I want to know is what

scientifically illiterate jerk thought up that stupid sticker. It's clear he or she knew even less than a freshman in HS. Certainly doesn't have a clue about what a scientific theory is. Not a fact. Hrrumph.

[gratuitous]

12. Well there's some good news

And I will stop advocating that Bibles carry the sticker "Important If True."

[sofa king]

14. Great, now my counter-sticker will never sell.

(No, it's not really for sale. Just print it off for yourself if you want it.)

[Fire Walk With Me]

16. What happened, someone catch the new super TB bacterium?

Why do dogmatists never consider that evolution might be part of God's plan? What's so hard?

[bhikkhu]

17. the meaning of "fact" should be taught, prior to evolution

and perhaps some progress might be made..."fact" being the probability of a statement being true, based upon a weight of evidence - hence, fact is probability. This is seldom taught or realized, as we have a cultural (or human) tendency toward "belief", which is to some extent the suspension of critical thinking, which does not serve science or intelligence well. That is, when we have political entities, discussion boards, educational establishments, etc, contending over whether evolution should be taught as a theory or a fact, they entirely miss the point and further confuse those who they should be serving. External to an understanding of the scientific method, there is a dismal volume of argument as to its findings...

[piedmont]

18. Oh, Hallelujah! nt