The Next Trojan Horse

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Timshel

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Another Trojan Horse in the battle against science education is being floated in South Carolina.

Education Group Wants Students to Question Evolution

South Carolina's Education Oversight Committee wants high school students to question evolution.

The independent agency's board voted 7-4 Monday on biology standards that require students to use scientific evidence to both support and discredit Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.

The recommendation pushed by Republican Sen. Mike Fair of Greenville returns to the state Board of Education for review. The committee and board must agree on any change to the standards.
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According to Wikipedia, Mike Fair is a conservative Christian and a deacon at his church. In 2008 he was the lead sponsor of a bill which the National Center for Science Education described as being "aimed at undermining the teaching of evolution." As they detailed in the same article he has been at war against the teaching of evolution for some time.

Antievolution legislation in South Carolina

The lead sponsor of S. 1386, Senator Michael Fair (R-District 6), spearheaded a number of previous antievolution efforts in the legislature. In 2003, he tried to amend a bill dealing with instructional materials and textbooks to require a disclaimer about the origin of life as "not scientifically verifiable"; withdrawing the amendment, he then successfully amended the bill to establish a nineteen-member South Carolina Standards Committee to "(1) study science standards regarding the teaching of the origin of species; (2) determine whether there is a consensus on the definition of science; (3) determine whether alternatives to evolution as the origin of species should be offered in schools." The Greenville News (May 1, 2003), reported that Fair "said his intention is to show that Intelligent Design is a viable scientific alternative that should be taught in the public schools." The bill died, however, when the legislature adjourned.

Fair was quickly at it again, however, introducing a bill in the next legislative session that would have established the South Carolina Standards Committee. The language about "alternatives to evolution" was removed from the bill in committee, however. Regrouping, Fair then introduced S. 909, a bill modeled on the so-called Santorum language stripped from the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. If enacted, S. 909 would have required, "Where topics are taught that may generate controversy, such as biological evolution, the curriculum should help students to understand the full range of scientific views that exist, why such topics may generate controversy, and how scientific discoveries can profoundly affect society." The bill failed, but Fair won himself a description as "the dominant voice advocating for S.C. schools to teach more than Charles Darwin's theories of evolution," according to The State (June 17, 2005).

In 2005, Fair also launched a campaign against the treatment of evolution in the state's science standards. As a member of the state's Education Oversight Committee, he pressed for the expansion of "critical analysis" language already present in the standards dealing with evolution, despite the criticism of then State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum, who told The State (February 13, 2006), "'Critically analyze' is not just wordsmithing ... It carries with it a whole campaign against evolution." After a seven-month delay during which Fair and his confederates unsuccessfully lobbied for insertion of "critical analysis" language into all of the evolution indicators, the EOC approved the standard as submitted. But even here Fair claimed victory, telling AgapePress (June 15, 2006) that it was a precursor to allowing the teaching of "intelligent design" in South Carolina's public schools.
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First they wanted to teach intelligent design as science. When that failed they started talking about "Teaching the Controversy" (there is none in the scientific community between intelligent design and evolution.) The next step is "Critical Thinking." Of course, what they want kids to think critically about is anything that challenges the evolving tenets of religious faith.

That would not be so bad, but they are really teaching rhetoric, Christian apologetics and attempting to train kids on how to attack anything that contradicts faith. They pretend that is science, but it is not. Critical thought on the entire theory of evolution would require an alternate explanation for its many insights or a broad attack on their validity. Certainly, there are issues within the field that might be criticized but that is probably too deep for elementary schools to cover. You need more specialized knowledge.

The goal at this educational level should be to teach what the theory is. Politics and religious dogma should not be allowed drive science education.
 
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why get worried? evolution is a product of science and requires logic and reason to arrive at its conclusions. It should be questioned so they can use the tools of logic and reason to arrive at the conclusions for themselves.

Why do liberals love being told what the truth is instead of finding the truth for themselves?
 
I believe that is more true of the right.

Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.
- Thomas Jefferson
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tinfoil said:
why get worried? evolution is a product of science and requires logic and reason to arrive at its conclusions. It should be questioned so they can use the tools of logic and reason to arrive at the conclusions for themselves.

Why do liberals love being told what the truth is instead of finding the truth for themselves?
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It's an attempt to equate ignorant religious heckling with science. This guys record makes his intent pretty clear. He is an opponent of science education.

The theory of evolution should be taught as it is. Its not really about whether it is true. You are free to reject it as false but you will need to understand what it is and all that it explains to do so intelligently.
 
require students to use scientific evidence to both support and discredit Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.
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well that's certainly new.....they weren't insistent on scientific evidence before.....
 
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