After Public Outcry, Arizona Rejects Anti-Evolution Science Standards for K-12

[phands]

A small victory for common sense....but one that shouldn't even have been an issue....

After a huge outpouring of comments from citizens concerned about education, Arizona has backed away from proposed science standards that would have watered down the teaching of evolution to students in grades K-12.


We reported on this issue in May, when the proposed amendments were released and the Arizona Department of Education proposed changes to the standards that would have downplayed the importance of evolution and misrepresented the scientific process in general.


Now, the same board has approved new standards that reject State Superintendent Diane Douglas’ suggestion to replace them with more conservative standards taken from a college in Michigan.


The science standards include edits recommended by the Arizona Science Teachers Association after an outcry over how the draft standards addressed evolution. Those edits emphasize that “The unity and diversity of organisms, living and extinct, is the result of evolution.”


The revised standards will be used by K-12 public district and charter schools statewide. Their approval received thunderous applause from educators and education advocates sitting in the boardroom.


Douglas’ motion to adopt the Hillsdale standards was met with silence from state board members. Not one seconded her motion and the proposal failed.


The superintendent prefaced the motion with a monologue touching on state test scores, school choice and basic arithmetic. She argued that the revised standards are “vague and incomplete at best, and indoctrination at worst.”


“We cannot, must not continue to fail any portion of our students in traditional districts,” she said. “When our children fail, it means we have failed to provide education.”

http://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/...ts-anti-evolution-science-standards-for-k-12/

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Fucking Arizonians. These are the same closed-minded, liberal assholes who indoctrinate our children with a biased educational program which completely spits in the face of the tenets of LastTuesdayism by having them write a paper about what they did over the summer vacation.

I really fear for the future of our youth with people like these designing their curriculum.

 

[phands]

Fucking Arizonians. These are the same closed-minded, liberal assholes who indoctrinate our children with a biased educational program which completely spits in the face of the tenets of LastTuesdayism by having them write a paper about what they did over the summer vacation.

I really fear for the future of our youth with people like these designing their curriculum.

I've always felt that Education is too important to let politicians and religiturds set the agenda. Let professional educators set it, and specifically exclude politics and religion from areas where they aren't part of the material under study.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Has someone propped up Pat Robertson so he can tell Arizonans that if they pray to God & he doesn't hear them, they have themselves to blame? Also, is there maybe a chance that a miraculous and totally unexplainable hurricane will get to Arizona? Who's to say it can't happen? Hurricane Jehovah -- I had a vision.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Fucking Arizonians. These are the same closed-minded, liberal assholes who indoctrinate our children with a biased educational program which completely spits in the face of the tenets of LastTuesdayism by having them write a paper about what they did over the summer vacation.

I really fear for the future of our youth with people like these designing their curriculum.

I've always felt that Education is too important to let politicians and religiturds to set the agenda. Let professional educators set it, and specifically exclude politics and religion from areas where they aren't part of the material under study.

The problem is, there are also a lot of trends and different schools of thought in education, completely apart from politicians and the Faithful.

Displaying the "I CAN" statements is big, now, as opposed to yesterday's "The student will be able to" and tomorrow's "Now we're going to" statements. The drive to make education 'engaging' which all to often means a demand that the student be 'entertained,' which is passive, the opposite of engaged. And Educational Experts giving Professional Development training to teachers that talk very authoritatively about how schools and classrooms should be run, but turn out to never have taught an actual class of actual teenagers.
The only good news actually IS the politicians in all this. Every new initiative and standard and certification that comes down from On High, eventually the Federal or State funding runs out, and the district has to decide whether or not to keep the program in place. Not because of any evaluation of effectiveness, but whether or not we can afford that AND ovens in the cafeteria.

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

A small victory for common sense....but one that shouldn't even have been an issue....

After a huge outpouring of comments from citizens concerned about education, Arizona has backed away from proposed science standards that would have watered down the teaching of evolution to students in grades K-12.


We reported on this issue in May, when the proposed amendments were released and the Arizona Department of Education proposed changes to the standards that would have downplayed the importance of evolution and misrepresented the scientific process in general.


Now, the same board has approved new standards that reject State Superintendent Diane Douglas’ suggestion to replace them with more conservative standards taken from a college in Michigan.


The science standards include edits recommended by the Arizona Science Teachers Association after an outcry over how the draft standards addressed evolution. Those edits emphasize that “The unity and diversity of organisms, living and extinct, is the result of evolution.”


The revised standards will be used by K-12 public district and charter schools statewide. Their approval received thunderous applause from educators and education advocates sitting in the boardroom.


Douglas’ motion to adopt the Hillsdale standards was met with silence from state board members. Not one seconded her motion and the proposal failed.


The superintendent prefaced the motion with a monologue touching on state test scores, school choice and basic arithmetic. She argued that the revised standards are “vague and incomplete at best, and indoctrination at worst.”


“We cannot, must not continue to fail any portion of our students in traditional districts,” she said. “When our children fail, it means we have failed to provide education.”

http://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/...ts-anti-evolution-science-standards-for-k-12/

Right, the teaching of scientifically supported facts is "indoctrination". But forcing your children to worship an invisible entity is "faith". Got it.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

It's much easier to believe in magic and that Jesus made us all in the Garden of Hedon than it is to understand science.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

It's much easier to believe in magic and that Jesus made us all in the Garden of Hedon than it is to understand science.

Is that garden where the word hedonism comes from and the theory is that Jesus got it on with all our moms?

 

[Keith&Co.]

Now I keep imagining Jesus telling my Mom to shake her Manna-maker...

 

[steve_bank]

This has been occurring periodically since at least the 90s often ending up in court.

I suppose the first official case was the Scopes Trial for those who may not know. The movie Inherit The Wind was based on trial transcripts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial

The Scopes Trial, formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case in July 1925 in which a substitute high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school.[1] The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he purposely incriminated himself so that the case could have a defendant.[2][3]

Scopes was found guilty and fined $100 (equivalent to $1395 in 2017), but the verdict was overturned on a technicality. The trial served its purpose of drawing intense national publicity, as national reporters flocked to Dayton to cover the big-name lawyers who had agreed to represent each side. William Jennings Bryan, three-time presidential candidate, argued for the prosecution, while Clarence Darrow, the famed defense attorney, spoke for Scopes. The trial publicized the Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy, which set Modernists, who said evolution was not inconsistent with religion,[4] against Fundamentalists, who said the word of God as revealed in the Bible took priority over all human knowledge. The case was thus seen as both a theological contest and a trial on whether "modern science" should be taught in schools.

 

[Keith&Co.]

The trial publicized the Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy, which set Modernists, who said evolution was not inconsistent with religion,[4] against Fundamentalists,

I don't know why i keep forgetting that this was not a vs. Atheist matter. I mean, what with evolution being primarily an atheist invention, solely supported by the atheist-majority in society, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of atheidt philosophy, it seems odd tgat theists sought to defend it at one time...

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Dover School District in Pennsylvania was the latest courtroom iteration.

 

[Worldtraveller]

This has been occurring periodically since at least the 90s often ending up in court.

I suppose the first official case was the Scopes Trial for those who may not know. The movie Inherit The Wind was based on trial transcripts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial

The Scopes Trial, formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case in July 1925 in which a substitute high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school.[1] The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he purposely incriminated himself so that the case could have a defendant.[2][3]

Scopes was found guilty and fined $100 (equivalent to $1395 in 2017), but the verdict was overturned on a technicality. The trial served its purpose of drawing intense national publicity, as national reporters flocked to Dayton to cover the big-name lawyers who had agreed to represent each side. William Jennings Bryan, three-time presidential candidate, argued for the prosecution, while Clarence Darrow, the famed defense attorney, spoke for Scopes. The trial publicized the Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy, which set Modernists, who said evolution was not inconsistent with religion,[4] against Fundamentalists, who said the word of God as revealed in the Bible took priority over all human knowledge. The case was thus seen as both a theological contest and a trial on whether "modern science" should be taught in schools.

Dover School District in Pennsylvania was the latest courtroom iteration.

Depending on what part of the country one is in, it is either a continuous battle, or one that crops up from time to time. At least we (AZ) got this one right, with a lot of pressure from various scientific groups and a healthy heaping of humorous battle from the local Satanic Temple (I love those guys).

I spent 8 years in KS (and still have the scars....) and even though I don't have any kids to worry about in school, it was a constant fight there. There is almost always at least one fundagelical loony running for the school board there, or trying to insert their religion if they are already on the board. I served 4 years on the Board of Directors for Kansas Citizens for Science, and 2 years as VP. It was never ending. For a good documentary on the kind of thing we were always up against, watch the documentary 'What's the matter with Kansas.'. Most of the filming for that was completed the year I joined the BoD, so I'm not in it, but all my friends are.

I've been thinking of trying to get a similar group started in AZ, but I think it's sporadic enough there that there isn't the same need. The most active groups were Michigan (which was the 'founding' group), Florida, and Kansas.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Depending on what part of the country one is in, it is either a continuous battle, or one that crops up from time to time. At least we (AZ) got this one right, with a lot of pressure from various scientific groups and a healthy heaping of humorous battle from the local Satanic Temple (I love those guys).

I spent 8 years in KS (and still have the scars....) and even though I don't have any kids to worry about in school, it was a constant fight there. There is almost always at least one fundagelical loony running for the school board there, or trying to insert their religion if they are already on the board. I served 4 years on the Board of Directors for Kansas Citizens for Science, and 2 years as VP. It was never ending. For a good documentary on the kind of thing we were always up against, watch the documentary 'What's the matter with Kansas.'. Most of the filming for that was completed the year I joined the BoD, so I'm not in it, but all my friends are.

I've been thinking of trying to get a similar group started in AZ, but I think it's sporadic enough there that there isn't the same need. The most active groups were Michigan (which was the 'founding' group), Florida, and Kansas.

We certainly have our share of Fundy Loons in the Keystone State, fortunately science is alive and well also. It's quite the observation to see grown people who are young earth creationists gushing about the the Noah Fable. It does make for interesting conversation.

Keep up the effort. It's always been my contention that if we taught religious education in schools, religion would become a hobby at best. Courses like World Religions are electives in high schools but I think religious education is as important as Civics in educating young people. And the kids would love it. It's the adults that would feel threatened.

 

[steve_bank]

Back in the 90s there was a proposal in the Washington legislature to require any public education science text to have a disclaimer placed inside the cover saying that evolution was not necessarily true and there are alternatives. I exchanged emails with the author and was prepared to meet face to face.

I talked to the chair of the committee that would bring it to the floor and she told me not to worry, it would never get out of committee.

Also in the 90s were several court cases about people trying to get Intelligent Design into public school science classes. They failed.

It is a never ending battle.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Back in the 90s there was a proposal in the Washington legislature to require any public education science text to have a disclaimer placed inside the cover saying that evolution was not necessarily true and there are alternatives. I exchanged emails with the author and was prepared to meet face to face.

I talked to the chair of the committee that would bring it to the floor and she told me not to worry, it would never get out of committee.

Also in the 90s were several court cases about people trying to get Intelligent Design into public school science classes. They failed.

It is a never ending battle.

Yes. And the contest will never end so long as cognitive inequality exists, which will be forever.

 

[Worldtraveller]

Back in the 90s there was a proposal in the Washington legislature to require any public education science text to have a disclaimer placed inside the cover saying that evolution was not necessarily true and there are alternatives. I exchanged emails with the author and was prepared to meet face to face.

I talked to the chair of the committee that would bring it to the floor and she told me not to worry, it would never get out of committee.

Cobb County was the most famous of those.

Also in the 90s were several court cases about people trying to get Intelligent Design into public school science classes. They failed.

It is a never ending battle.

I did a pretty extensive analysis (if I do say so myself) of the Dover case. It's in the IIDB archives if we ever get access to that again.