Catholic Diocese Prohibits Field Trips to Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery
This is exactly what is wrong with vouchers. The rest of the story behind the voucher initiatives sponsored by the GOP is that most private schools are religious. They want to take funds from public schools for private religious schools that would censor real science education. As a nation entirely dependent on technology we can’t afford large swaths of the populace being ignorant of basic science anymore.
Children who attend Catholic schools in the Madison Catholic Diocese will no longer be taking field trips to the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery because the facility on the UW-Madison campus conducts research using embryonic stem cells.
The diocese announced its decision in a letter Thursday to principals and priests, saying the research runs counter to Catholic teaching on the sacredness of human life.
“Catholic schools in the Diocese of Madison may no longer participate in any activities, workshops or field trips at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery,” wrote Michael Lancaster, superintendent of Catholic schools. “Any plans to do so should be halted immediately, and alternative, morally acceptable means of meeting the educational objectives should be utilized.”The decision, approved by Bishop Robert Morlino, affects about 7,400 children at 44 schools in 11 counties, Lancaster said. However, only a handful of Catholic schools had been taking students to the facility, he said.
The decision brought a quick rebuke from Peter Hess, a Catholic theologian and director of religious community outreach for the National Center for Science Education in Oakland, Calif.
“As an advocate of solid science teaching in Catholic schools, I see it as very problematic and a huge overreach to prohibit students from visiting an entire institution because of one suspect wing of that institution,” said Hess, a member of the International Society of Science and Religion.
More: Catholic Diocese Prohibits Field Trips to Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery : Wsj