Teaching Creationism in Public Schools…Really?

By Molly Hogan | January 31, 2014

2 + 2 = 4. George Washington was the first President. Dinosaurs and humans walked the Earth together.

Does one of those things sound different than the others, something you wouldn’t learn in school? If you’re a student at many private schools, and recently discovered, some charter schools in Texas, creationism is taught along with evolution.

Charter schools are privately run but publicly funded. Depending on the school, charters may focus on a particular teaching method, specialized curriculum, or just as an alternative to neighborhood public schools about which parents are concerned.

The charter school movement has been growing across the country, but not without concern. While some schools have seen incredible jumps in test scores and student abilities, other still suffer. This has led to discussions about effectiveness, management, and selectivity within charter schools.

One recent topic of conversation has to do with the curriculums in certain charter schools, specifically, those that teach creationism and other Christian themes.

A recent article pointed out that the largest charter school provider in Texas is teaching Creationism, among other topics, to its students. Responsive Education Solutions runs charter schools across the state, and on its surface, doesn’t seem to be partisan or religious in any way.

But as more people have looked into it, it seems Responsive Ed schools use materials that teach creationism, and discount other, more commonly taught, scientific principles like evolution.

So what’s the problem?

Absolutely nothing, if this was a private school. But even though Responsive Ed manages its own personnel and classrooms, it receives a lot of money from the state. And unfortunately for the company, the Supreme Court has ruled that teaching creationism in schools is unconstitutional.

In Edwards v. Aguillard, the Supreme Court ruled that teaching creationism would violate the First Amendment because it would force Christian ideology into a public school. That was in 1987.

So why, over 15 years later, is this still happening? Charter schools have a large amount of autonomy, and Texas has a lot of people in charter schools. Responsive Ed themselves claim to have over 17,000 students enrolled at their various campuses around the state.

The reason schools often get away with presenting information to discredit evolution, is because of state standards. While in Aguillard, it was decided schools can’t teach creationism, the way some Texas curricula are worded, students can be taught to question the “theory” of evolution. So while a teacher may not come straight out and say, “evolution is incorrect,” he or she could tell students about the “lack of evidence” surrounding the Theory.

And while people outside the state are certainly discussing the ramifications of these actions, including Bill Nye, who will be debating creationism at the Creation Museum in Kentucky (yes, that’s a museum dedicated to the idea of creationism) soon, some politicians in Texas don’t seem to mind. Earlier this month, a candidate for the Texas Board of Education made quite the statement when she said, “we know we didn’t come from monkeys.”

And Texas isn’t the only state in which this is happening. Recently, Virginia legislators have proposed a bill which would encourage students to “respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about scientific controversies in science classes.” This sounds wonderful without the context of the rest of the bill, which reads in part, “[This bill shall not] promote or discriminate against a particular set of religious beliefs or nonbeliefs.” In short, religious ideas can be presented as a counter-argument to scientific ideas like evolution.

As recently as this week, South Dakota has proposed legislation which would make it illegal to restrict teaching Intelligent Design in schools. Though, as previously discussed, it’s already illegal to teach Intelligent Design. States across the country seem to be looking for ways to get around these laws.

This isn’t to say there is never a place for Intelligent Design in the classrooms, or that talk of creationism should be banned. In Humanities, social sciences, and religion/philosophy classes, there is a clear and distinctive reason for having students discuss these topics in the proper context, not as hard science.

But by attaching these discussions to science classes, and presenting them as legitimate alternatives to scientific theories like evolution, students will be at a disadvantage. We already know that American students are behind other industrialized nations in math and science testing scores, and by perpetuating the idea that evolution is a theory without any merit will only harm students who wish to attend college and beyond.

Additionally, teaching creationism in publicly funded schools could be the start of a slippery slope. By injecting religious (or really any politically fueled topic) tenets into science classes, who is to say they won’t soon enter history classes as well? Public schooling is supposed to provide all students, regardless of beliefs, the most factual and non-partisan education possible. Teaching creationism is not the best way to accomplish this.

But change to these policies cannot come without lawmakers taking a stand on the topic. And unfortunately, the trend seems to be swinging towards allowing the teaching for creationism more rather than less.

So without politicians taking note that there is an inherent problem with schools using taxpayer money to teach creationism, and discount evolution, creationism may be around schools in Texas, and other states, for a while longer.

[Slate] [Edwards v. Aguillard] [Washington Post] [Virginia Legislation]

—

Molly Hogan (@molly_hogan13)

Featured image courtesy of [Ray Bodden via Flickr]