Education

The Jury is Still Out

Posted by JM Ashby

In the Republican war against science and reality, no stone is left untouched. Tennessee lawmakers are now seeking to include the fact-free opposing viewpoints to evolution and climate change in course curriculum along side fact-filled reality, leaving children confused and skeptical.

Or as Sean Hannity would say, "its snowing! Its really cold! Where's the global warming?"

The Tennessee House of Representatives is debating a bill on Wednesday that would push teachers to frame evolution, global warming, and other science topics as controversial in their classrooms, creating the impression that their validity is open for debate. [...]

It's not clear what the efforts to "assist" teachers in framing science as controversial would mean; it would probably depend largely on the school district. But the second part of the bill would make it entirely permissible for educators to teach whatever they want to kids about these subjects as long as they frame it as "science" and somehow relevant to the "controversy." And the bill doesn't limit this to just the "controversies" it lists explicitly. The intent of course is clear—compelling teachers to include creationist or climate-change denying materials alongside of actual scientific lessons.

"Is our children learning?" - George W Bush