In Texas, Cute And Cuddly 'Pandas' Wage War On Science Education

Update as of Feb. 4, 2011: Success! Thanks to activism by the Texas Freedom Network, FTE has announced it's pulling back from efforts to get its creationist text books into the hands of Texas school children. Read more here.

Could rogue pandas be targeting Texas science education textbooks?

It sure looks that way, with the Texas Freedom Network reporting that the anti-evolution publisher Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE) will be submitting their own special brand of curriculum material to the Texas State Board of Education later this year.

FTE is best-known for their 'intelligent design' science textbook Of Pandas And People, which a federal judge ruled in 2005 could not be taught in public schools because it violated the Constitution. That landmark Dover, Pennsylvania case found that 'intelligent design' is a religious belief, not a scientific theory, and that the book's publishers had replaced the word 'creationism' with 'intelligent design' in an attempt to cover up their attempts at proselytizing.

“Getting their materials in public schools has long been a top priority for creationists, and it’s clear that they intend to make Texas their flagship. Teaching inaccurate information rejected by the scientific community would be a huge disservice to Texas kids and a major setback for science education everywhere,” said Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, a watchdog group that tracks the religious right's activity in the state.

It's up to advocates, scientists, students and Change.org members to tell the board that Pandas - or anything like it - is unacceptable when it comes to teaching science in Texas. (Sign our petition here.)

FTE, which is based in Texas, has signed up to submit supplementary science curriculum material to the Texas board; the materials would be available for public review in March, the National Coalition for Science Education reports. Panels of citizens and educators will review the submissions and then the state board is expected to vote on them in April.

Given Texas' huge size, the state has a lot of impact with textbook publishers. Approving materials that incorporate Christian theory into public school textbooks would not only hurt science education in Texas - it could impact what other publishers choose to leave out - or put in - to their science curriculum materials.

The Texas State Board of Education is no stranger to culture wars. Less than a year ago, the conservative-dominated, elected board voted to embrace a social studies curriculum that questioned the separation of church and state, praised Republican philosophies and upheld capitalism as the answer to all problems. And in September, they voted to curb "pro-Islam" statements in textbooks, complaining that too many textbooks were "biased against Christianity."

The board's makeup has changed since then - this year there are five new members and two of the far-right members spearheading some of the conservative activism are no longer no the board, the TFN reports.

A new start, a new year -- and a new threat. Sign the Change.org petition and tell the Texas board of education to pick science materials from reputable publishers only.

Photo credit: puliarf via Flickr