Keep The Science In Science Textbooks, Louisiana Teachers Say

by Carol Scott · 2010-12-01 10:55:00 UTC
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Science teachers in Louisiana are stepping up to the plate and asking for something that should be a given: the permission to teach, well, science.

The issue in question is a series of high school life science textbooks up for approval by the state's board of education. They've been targeted by a group that attacks the books' inclusion of evolution, arguing that the books should include disclaimers and teach about creationism as well. An advisory panel approved the books last month; next week, the state board will hold a final vote.

Taking a stand for the books are educators who include Dr. Jason VanMetre, a biology teacher at A.M. Barbe High School in Calcasieu Parish, La. In a recent letter to the state board of education, he urged them not to cave to political pressures and instead focus on equipping Louisiana students for success.

"To tell the students of Louisiana that natural selection is a controversial idea is ludicrous," he wrote. "Natural selection is supported by every major scientific and educational association." Other educators, backed by the Louisiana Coalition For Science, are arguing that allowing life sciences textbooks to be censored or targeted means that Louisiana students won't be prepared for college, and won't be as knowledgeable about science as students in other states.

Members of the Louisiana Family Forum - a branch of Focus on the Family that brands itself as a "voice for traditional families in Louisiana" - are the main critics of these textbooks. They're the same group that attacked biology textbooks in 2002, losing when the state's board of K-12 education voted 7-3 to reject adding "evolution disclaimers" into the targeted textbooks.

The Family Forum also wrote, and then convinced lawmakers to pass, the Louisiana Science Education Act in 2008, a law that allows local school districts to bypass state-approved textbooks and teach science with their own "supplemental materials" (read: materials that discount evolution, global warming, and other hot-button topics).

K-12 science teachers are urging state board officials to approve the books at their vote next week. In a choice between scientific opinion and political pull, which will win out?

Photo credit: Serge Keller via Flickr

Carol Scott is the Education Editor for Change.org.
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