NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2014/08/29
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2014-08-29 14:05.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Further details about Ohio's antiscience bill. And the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists calls for a repeal of Tennessee's antiscience law.
CREATIONISM AND OHIO'S ANTISCIENCE BILL A sponsor of Ohio's House Bill 597 -- which if enacted would require the state's science standards to "prohibit political or religious interpretation of scientific facts in favor of another" -- is giving mixed signals about his intentions. Andy Thompson (R-District 95) told the Cincinnati Enquirer (August 22, 2014), "Nowhere in the bill does it mention creationism," but then explained, "There is the perspective of faith and the perspective of science," contending that the bill would give local school districts the flexibility to include both. "It's a hugely bad idea," NCSE's deputy director Glenn Branch told the newspaper, referring to the objectionable provision of the bill. "It wouldn't require districts to teach [creationism] but would allow them to,” he explained. "That puts districts in a very difficult position, especially if there are a lot of groups in that area that are supportive of teaching creationism. Some will be tempted to push the limits and teach creationism. If they do, they'll get sued over it." Thompson was dismissive of the prospect of a lawsuit, saying, "I think there are a lot of scare tactics out there. ... I have faith in the teachers and the districts." The Enquirer, however, alluded to the Kitzmiller case in neighboring Pennsylvania as well as recent incidents in the Ohio towns of Springboro, where there was a "proposal to include teaching creationism among an array of other origin-of-species theories in schools," and Lebanon, where a religious group was allowed to teach creationism along with archery in gym classes. For the story in the Cincinnati Enquirer, visit: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/education/2014/08/22/common-core-bill-reignites-creationism-debate/14477147/ For information about Ohio's House Bill 597, visit: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=130_HB_597 For information from the ACLU about the incidents in Springboro and Lebanon, visit: https://www.aclu.org/religion-belief/aclu-again-warns-springboro-school-board-against-promoting-religion-classroom https://www.aclu.org/religion-belief/aclu-ohio-warns-public-school-against-allowing-local-clergy-teach-creationism-gym For NCSE's taking action page for Ohio's HB 597, visit: http://ncse.com/taking-action/stop-ohio-anti-science-bill And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Ohio, visit: http://ncse.com/news/ohio A COURT BATTLE ON THE HORIZON IN OHIO? "Count on a serious court battle if a few state legislators have their way and Intelligent Design and other religious interpretations of science are allowed to be taught in public schools," warns the Cleveland Plain Dealer (August 22, 2014). The topic is Ohio's House Bill 597, which if enacted would require the state's science standards to "prohibit political or religious interpretation of scientific facts in favor of another." Sara Clark and Hollie Reedy, lawyers for the Ohio School Boards Association, told the Plain Dealer that the language of the requirement was ambiguous. But a sponsor of the bill, Andy Thompson (R-District 95), is on record as stating that the provision would allow local school districts to teach "intelligent design" along with creationism, telling the Plain Dealer (August 19, 2014), "I don't know that it needs to be treated on par, but districts will be able to choose based on their judgment." If the requirement is thus understood, Reedy told the Plain Dealer, "Absolutely it's going to be challenged." And she predicted that the challenge will succeed, citing the decision in 2005's Kitzmiller v. Dover case. "That case has been cited as the leading case on this, including by the Ohio Supreme Court, " Reedy said. Concerned Ohioans are urged to register at NCSE's website to indicate their opposition to the antiscience provision of HB 597, to get help reaching out to their state representatives, and to receive action alerts for attacks on science education in Ohio. For the August 22, 2014, story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, visit: http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/08/creationism_coming_to_ohio_classrooms_not_without_a_court_fight.html For the August 19, 2014, story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, visit: http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/08/common_core_opposition_bill_wont_limit_foreign_authors_-_or_teaching_of_creationism_and_intelligent_design.html For information about Ohio's House Bill 597, visit: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=130_HB_597 For NCSE's taking action page for Ohio's HB 597, visit: http://ncse.com/taking-action/stop-ohio-anti-science-bill And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Ohio, visit: http://ncse.com/news/ohio ASIH CALLS FOR REPEAL OF TENNESSEE'S ANTISCIENCE LAW At its 2014 meeting held in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists adopted a resolution encouraging the state of Tennessee to repeal the antiscience law -- nicknamed the "monkey bill" -- adopted there in 2012. The resolution reads, in its entirety: *** Whereas the theory of evolution is the basis of all biological science including medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology; and Whereas the Tennessee legislature has passed an anti-science bill (House Bill 368) under the guise of academic freedom that makes the teaching of the theory of evolution more difficult and incorrectly suggests that the theory of evolution is scientifically controversial; and Whereas Governor Bill Haslam has allowed this bill to become law; Therefore be it resolved that the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists meeting in Chattanooga 30 July-3 August 2014 encourages the State of Tennessee to reverse this profoundly regressive law. *** The law in question, enacted as Tenn. Code Ann. §49-6-1030, encourages teachers to present the "scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses" of topics that arouse "debate and disputation" such as "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning." Groups opposing the law include the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute for Biological Sciences, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, the National Earth Science Teachers Association, and the Tennessee Science Teachers Association. For ASIH's website, visit: http://www.asih.org/ And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Tennessee, visit: http://ncse.com/news/tennessee WHAT'S NEW FROM THE SCIENCE LEAGUE OF AMERICA Have you been visiting NCSE's blog, The Science League of America, recently? If not, then you've missed: * Glenn Branch discussing the censorship of Clarence Darrow's film about evolution: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/08/censoring-darrow-0015820 * Stephanie Keep explaining misconceptions about fitness: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/08/misconception-monday-what-is-fitness-0015825 * Ann Reid relating a story of bugs and features in fruit flies: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/08/bugs-features-fruit-flies-0015835 And much more besides! For The Science League of America, visit: http://ncse.com/blog Thanks for reading. And don't forget to visit NCSE's website -- http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on evolution and climate education and threats to them. -- Sincerely, Glenn Branch Deputy Director National Center for Science Education, Inc. 420 40th Street, Suite 2 Oakland, CA 94609-2509 510-601-7203 x303 fax: 510-601-7204 800-290-6006 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Check out NCSE's new blog, Science League of America: http://ncse.com/blog Read Reports of the NCSE on-line: http://reports.ncse.com Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: http://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd http://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! http://ncse.com/join
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