State school board scores hit with science standards

June 17, 2005

It seems more than a little anachronistic that state-sanctioned debate over the teaching of evolution in public schools should be going on in the 21st century. Controversy over conflicting explanations about the origin of

the human race, and the place of those explanations in the classroom, are reminders of earlier generations.

It has been 80 years since the landmark Scopes "monkey trial" dragged the studies of Charles Darwin into court. Today, the embers of that once-hot controversy are being refanned by a very small, but very vocal and well-organized minority, which has chosen as its battleground the local school boards and state boards of education around the country.

At present, 11 different states are considering anti-evolution legislation. Most of the proposed laws would mandate that faith-based alternatives, such as the biblical account of creation in the Book of Genesis, also be offered in public classrooms.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law in 2002, has given the movement new life by mandating reconsideration and requantification of science curriculum standards. Kansas, once again, has been the poster child state for the movement.

Conservative Christians have regained control of the board of education there and are poised to vote creationism, in the guise of "intelligent design" theory, back into the classroom. The teaching of alternative theories, in general, can be a good prescription for quality education. But in this case, in which a board member publicly dismisses evolution as "the age-old fairy tale," it's just plain bad medicine.

The vast majority of Americans who call themselves Christians have no problem reconciling their faith with a belief in evolution, without any concern that it is still, technically, just a theory. Clearly, the biblical literalists are entitled to their opinion. But they are most definitely not entitled to impose it on others.

Members of the Alaska Board of Education last week made a firm stand against this kind of intolerance when it convened to rewrite this state's science curriculum standards.

The board came down squarely on the side of reason and affirmed evolution's rightful place in the public classroom.

We are blessed in this nation, and in this state, with a multitude of education options. Families who feel strongly enough about this issue are free to send their children to like-minded schools. The growing popularity of Christian schools indicates many families are doing just that.

Since its inception, this pluralistic nation has developed with religious and socio-ideological thinking rooted deeply in thousands and thousands of years of Judeo-Christian heritage. So we are strong believers in the right of people to practice their faith as they see fit.

But we are equally strong believers in the right of people not to be subject to the tyrannical impositions of someone else's faith, especially when those impositions come from a minority point of view.

We applaud the members of the state board of education for standing up to the prevailing political winds and doing the right thing for the students and families of Alaska.