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Florida Legislature Debates Teaching Evolution Alternatives
May 01, 2008 07:00 AM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Proposed legislation in Florida would require public schools to teach alternative theories of evolution. Critics feel it’s a veiled attempt to teach religion.
30-Second Summary
According to NPR, “Florida’s House and Senate have passed bills that would allow—or require—teachers to present alternative theories of how life evolved.” An agreement on the exact wording must be reached by May 2, 2008, when Florida’s legislature adjourns.
Some legislators question the motives behind the bill, fearing that the separation between church and state could be eroded if the bill should pass as is.
“Let’s be real clear on what it is that we’re actually voting about,” said Rep. Franklin Sands. “We’re voting about the separation of church and state. We’re voting about teaching religion in the schools. You can couch it any way you want.”
Other Florida lawmakers, including Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, are adamantly in favor of “critical analysis” of evolution in public school classrooms. “What this bill does is tell the teacher, go ahead and teach the theory of evolution and make sure your students … know that it is only a theory, it is not gospel law,” he said.
Critics worry that if the proposed legislation goes through, students will be presented with an unconstitutional merging of religion and science, particularly the theory of Intelligent Design. According to ABC News, Florida did not include the words “scientific theory of evolution” in its science teaching standards until February 2008. However, the phrase “scientific theory” still upsets some.
Some legislators question the motives behind the bill, fearing that the separation between church and state could be eroded if the bill should pass as is.
“Let’s be real clear on what it is that we’re actually voting about,” said Rep. Franklin Sands. “We’re voting about the separation of church and state. We’re voting about teaching religion in the schools. You can couch it any way you want.”
Other Florida lawmakers, including Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, are adamantly in favor of “critical analysis” of evolution in public school classrooms. “What this bill does is tell the teacher, go ahead and teach the theory of evolution and make sure your students … know that it is only a theory, it is not gospel law,” he said.
Critics worry that if the proposed legislation goes through, students will be presented with an unconstitutional merging of religion and science, particularly the theory of Intelligent Design. According to ABC News, Florida did not include the words “scientific theory of evolution” in its science teaching standards until February 2008. However, the phrase “scientific theory” still upsets some.
Headline Links: Evolution debate in Florida schools
According to NPR, “Florida’s House and Senate have passed bills that would allow—or require—teachers to present alternative theories of how life evolved.” At issue are academic freedom, and the possibility of introducing religion into public schools. Florida's legislature has until it ajourns on May 2 to agree on how to word the law. Actor Ben Stein spoke out in favor of the legislation.
Source: NPR
Florida Today reports that the House vote to “have public school teachers include a ‘critical analysis’ of evolution” resulted from a “long and uncommonly testy debate.” Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, is in favor of the “critical analysis” inclusion. “There’s no proof that any species has transitioned from one thing to another,” he said.
Source: Florida Today
Background Link: The “scientific theory” of evolution
In February 2008, Florida’s State Board of Education voted to include the word “evolution” for the first time in its new science standards. However, the phrase “scientific theory” precedes it, a caveat to some. Previously, Florida’s standards required teachers to use “code words” for evolution, such as “change over time.”
Source: ABC News
Opinion & Analysis: Handling “the biggest question”
An editorial by a Florida Atlantic University paleo-anthropology student defended evolution in public schools, questioning the motives of Florida legislation and claiming that it would under-prepare students for college. “What this bill essentially does is make it OK for a teacher to present intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in the classroom,” said the editorial.
Source: South Florida Sun Sentinel
Florida newspaper the TC Palm published an editorial defending Florida’s proposed legislation for “critical analysis” of evolution. The alternative, feels the author, would demand that “only one theory be taught,” which would rob students “of an opportunity to think critically as they think through the biggest question every asked.”
Source: TC Palm
Related Topics: The Discovery Institute and Intelligent Design
The Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture supports scientific and scholarly research that challenges aspects of evolution. The Institute’s theory is known as Intelligent Design.
Source: Discovery Institute Center
Scientific American’s article, “Six Things in Expelled that Ben Stein Doesn’t Want You to Know … about intelligent design and evolution,” is an analysis of Stein’s film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
Source: Scientific American
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