New Textbook Guidelines Quickly OKd : Education: State board action means evolution will be taught as the only ‘theory’ of the origin of life. And, as California goes, so goes the nation.
SACRAMENTO — Sidestepping discussion of the controversy that has raged for months over evolution and creationism, the State Board of Education unanimously approved a textbook guideline Thursday requiring evolution to be taught as the only theory of the origin of life.
The board took less than 20 minutes to adopt the new 190-page guideline for science textbooks.
Its decision immediately prompted mixed reactions from scientists, educators and civil libertarians. While many praised the new document as the strongest statement ever produced by any state on the subject of evolution, others expressed disappointment that last-minute revisions had deleted references to evolution as scientific fact and instead had presented it as theory.
“I think they could have put the Scopes trial to rest here once and for all but they left the door opened, unfortunately, so the battle continues,†said Michael Hudson, western director for the anti-censorship group, People for the American Way. John Scopes, a high school biology teacher in Tennessee, was convicted in 1925 of teaching evolution instead of the biblical theory of creation.
Both sides acknowledged, however, that the new guidelines are expected to have a strong impact on the way evolution is taught in the United States because of California’s clout as one of the largest purchasers of textbooks.
The conservative nine-member board whose leaders had reached a behind-the-scenes compromise with Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig before the vote confined most of their public discussion to the technicalities of the final editing process.
As a bank of television cameras recorded their every move, board members debated whether changes in punctuation and grammar would have to be approved by the full board or just its chairman. The board ultimately opted for the chairman to take the responsibility.
After the meeting, Honig explained and defended the board’s decision, insisting its critics were wrong to suggest that it had been pressure from the religious right that had led to the last-minute revisions.
“Maybe (the decision) of one or two members was affected by that constituency but most board members . . . agreed with the changes because they didn’t want the document to be argumentative,†he said. “They didn’t want a legalistic document; they wanted a science document.â€
Honig, an advocate for more academically challenging textbooks, said the changes were not as important as the fact that the new document was still more unequivocal about evolution than any other science textbook guideline ever issued in California.
“It now states for the first time that evolution will be taught in its entirety, it’s non-controversial and it’s the only thing you really teach within science,†he said.
Indeed, the Rev. Louis Sheldon, the chief advocate for modifications in the guidelines, said the document so strongly favored the teaching of evolution that his Anaheim-based Traditional Values Coalition was considering a lawsuit.
Saying that many board members in private discussions had indicated a desire to make more changes, Sheldon accused the board of being intimidated by Honig.
“He totally used the bully pulpit in there to state what he wanted. There is some kind of way that he mesmerizes them,†Sheldon said.
The Presbyterian minister said he believed the changes favored his position, particularly one that omitted references to scientific rejection of theories of creationism. But he said he still felt the document was “hostile to religion.†He said the board should also have deleted a statement that indicated creation science had been studied and rejected by scientific societies.
Sheldon has maintained all along that teachers should be allowed to present alternative theories on the origin of man including the biblical version of creation.
Hudson said the new guideline clearly prevents the presentation of creationism in any textbooks but he said he feared textbook publishers may “water down†their treatment of evolution because of the last-minute revisions in the guideline.
“On the one hand you have a document that is clear and unequivocal about evolution,†he said. “On the other hand you have a strong political signal from the board that it is susceptible to right-wing pressure.â€
The guideline, which is adopted every seven years, is used by publishers to design new textbooks. Once completed, the textbooks have to be presented to the board for approval for use in California schools.
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