In The State today, I see an article on the “evolution debate” and how it could effect our children’s (and our state’s) future.
Right off the bat, it doesn’t look good.
The state’s Education Oversight Committee recommended Monday that theories other than evolution – such as “intelligent design†– should be taught in high school biology classes.
Have we learned nothing from the the Dover trial? The problem with these alternatives to evolution is that they’re not scientific alternatives because they (1) don’t explain anything and (2) don’t have sufficient scientific support to be taught as mainstream scientific theories.
We are, after all, talking about grade school and high school courses here. In these introductory classes, we teach sound, established science – the kind that’s produced actual results. We don’t teach fringe science (I’m being rather charitable here to intelligent design) even to most college students, so why the heck would we teach it to younger kids?
State Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum said the vote would water down the quality of science education in public schools.
… and put our high school graduates at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to succeeding at the best colleges. And what of industries that might not come to South Carolina because they perceive our workforce to be uneducated? This is the brush that we will tar our students and our state with if we weaken our science standards.