Academic Freedom To Teach Bible As Science Upheld In Lucky Louisiana
Charles Darwin needs to go down to Louisiana and slap some Fundies. Doktor Zoom reports on this upsetting development with his usual amount of snark.
Nice try, but no cigar, lovers of science in the Pelican State. For the fourth time since the Doublespeaky “Louisiana Science Education Act” (LSEA) was passed in 2008, an attempt to repeal the law has been shot down, by a 3-1 vote in the Senate Education Committee. This means that teachers in the Great State of Jindalia can continue to teach “critical thinking” by supplementing the state’s official science curriculum with additional materials of their choice, which (nudge-nudge) may “help students understand, analyze, critique, and review scientific theories in an objective manner.” In other words, they can “teach the controversy” and drag in materials that say evolution and climate change are just crazy ideas that shouldn’t be taken seriously. What a nice victory for academic freedom, which should always include the freedom to not teach facts.
The repeal attempt, introduced by state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, would have oppressed teachers and students alike by forcing science teachers to teach actual science, but now Louisiana teachers remain free to pull in fascinating if unofficial articles from creationist websites. After all, what good is a curriculum based on mere reality if you’re not allowed to undermine it?