New Scientist: New legal threat to school science in the US

[arenean]

***www.NewScientist.com - NEWSFLASH***

On the 28 June, The Science Education Act was passed as law in the State of Louisiana. This piece of legislature now allows teachers in this US state to present non-scientific alternatives to evolution, global warming and cloning – including ideas related to intelligent design. Opponents fear that Louisiana teachers are now free to present evolution and other targeted topics as matters of debate rather than broadly accepted science, and could have national implications.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE:

New Scientist: New legal threat to school science in the US

[izzie]

1. This should keep up us with the rest of the world!

How many eng. are getting out of school in India, China and Eur. each year now? I am betting that holding the bible up will not out do them. One only has to look at history to believe in this.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Wait til these graduates have heated debates over their answers on standardized

tests en route to college and NCLB.

[fasttense]

3. Yeah, all that "alternative faith-based science" is really going to help them

on the ACT. A whole state failing the ACT because of religion. Isn't that what Kansas found when they taught fantasy to their students? Most of the kids were failing the math and science portions of the ACT/SAT. For some reason teaching make believe in science also brings down math scores.

[Jim__]

4. Teaching non-scientific alternatives to science - wow!

From the article:

The strategy being employed in Louisiana by proponents of ID - including the Seattle-based Discovery Institute - is more subtle and potentially more difficult to challenge. Instead of trying to prove that ID is science, they have sought to bestow on teachers the right to introduce non-scientific alternatives to evolution under the banner of "academic freedom".

"Academic freedom is a great thing," says Josh Rosenau of the National Center for Science Education in Oakland, California. "But if you look at the American Association of University Professors' definition of academic freedom, it refers to the ability to do research and publish." This, he points out, is different to the job high-school teachers are supposed to do. "In high school, you're teaching mainstream science so students can go on to college or medical school, where you need that freedom to explore cutting-edge ideas. To apply 'academic freedom' to high school is a misuse of the term."

So, take kids who don't know any science yet, and teach them alternatives to science. That makes a lot of sense.

The governor of Louisiana is on mcsame's short list for veep. If mcsame picks him, this should become a major campaign issue.

[TZ]

5. You know what really pisses me off about these freaks?

They preach "academic freedom" but these are the same fuckers who are CONSTANTLY trying to ban any book that contradicts their little narrow world view!
And what if someone wanted to teach a non- Judeochristian "alternative" to evolution, do you think these freaks would tolerate that?
Fuckers.:rant:

[skepticscott]

8. That's what's so irritating

about the whole "teach the controversy" argument. Those people claim that high school students should be given all the facts and arguments, and be allowed to make up their own minds, but how do you suppose the same right-wing nutballs would react if, in an ancient history class, a teacher tried to present the arguments that the Hebrew exile in Egypt and the whole story in Exodus never happened? Or if a political science teacher tried to make a case that communism was a perfectly viable political and economic system? Their calls for academic freedom would evaporate faster than John McCain's short term memory...

[Evoman]

6. "Please let us make our kids stupider than they already are and make our country obsolete".

That is what I hear when I listen to these knuckledraggers talk.

[knitter4democracy]

7. The ramifications are huge.

When I took the National Teachers Exam years ago, there were questions on there about evolution and how to handle students who believe in Creationism. I'm sure questions are on all the standardized tests. It's not just about the tests they take in elementary but also the AP tests, the ACT and SAT, the CLEP tests and more. Apparently, they'd rather hurt their kids than admit they're wrong.

[Realityhack]

9. Science confuses us, so please don't bring it here - Louisiana n/t

[Realityhack]

10. KICK - This is very important, more so than many topics discussed here. n/t

[struggle4progress]

11. Link to the text:

http://www.evolutionnews.org/2008/06/text_of_louisiana_science_educ.html#more

[Jim__]

12. "... review scientific theories in an objective manner..."

I suppose an objective manner includes items like this gem (from Conservapedia)":

Dr. Walt Brown states the genetic material that controls the biological processes of life is coded information and that human experience tells us that codes are created only by the result of intelligence and not merely by processes of nature.<38> Dr. Brown also asserts that the "information stored in the genetic material of all life is a complex program. Therefore, it appears that an unfathomable intelligence created these genetic programs."<38>

[struggle4progress]

13. Apparently they plan skirmishes school board by school board

[ZombieHorde]

14. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

[TechBear_Seattle]

15. And America continues its decline into Third World status

Crimeny, there are already Third World countries that have better math and science curricula than many US states. A move like this will really make us appear forward-thinking.