State Legislation Could Accidentally Mess Up Science Education
The Horowitz hate machine is spewing again.
As is typical when similar measures appear in multiple states, the idea comes from an outside source. In this case, the source calls itself “Stop K-12 Indoctrination,” an outgrowth of the David Horowitz Freedom Center. While the Center has been labelled anti-Muslim, its issues seem more generally anti-left-wing, targeting programs that promote gender and racial tolerance.
Among the group’s programs is a K-12 code of ethics for teachers, which is what serves as the model for legislation that’s appeared in South Dakota, Virginia, and Arizona. Claimed to be a way of avoiding “indoctrination” of students by teachers, the code of ethics prohibits the use of class time to (among other things) “advocate in a partisan manner for any side of a controversial issue, defined as an issue that is a point in electoral party platforms at the national, state, or local level.”
Which is problematic, given that a large number of state party platforms specifically mention evolution and climate change. Oklahoma’s Republicans currently advocate that “where evolution is taught, intelligent design and competing origin theories must be taught as well.”
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