Pharyngula::Alabama sucks, too

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Thursday, March 11, 2004

Alabama sucks, too

PZ Myers • 5 Comments

Yeah, they do. Take a look at House Bill 391:

(c) Every K-12 public school teacher or teacher or instructor in any two-year or four-year public institution of higher education, or in any graduate or adult program thereof, in the state, shall have the affirmative right and freedom to present scientific, historical, theoretical, or evidentiary information pertaining to alternative theories or points of view on the subject of origins in any curricula or course of learning.

(d) No K-12 public school teacher or teacher or instructor in any two-year or four-year public institution of higher education, or in any graduate or adult program thereof, in the state, shall be terminated, disciplined, denied tenure, or otherwise discriminated against for presenting scientific, historical, theoretical, or evidentiary information pertaining to alternative theories or points of view on the subject of origins in any curricula or course of learning.

In other words, some hack could get up in front of a biology class at UAB and hork up great globs of nonsense about evolution, flatly teach the students lies, and the university’s hands are tied. Who cares about quality education, after all? It’s bad enough that such horrid crap gets proposed by some dingbat in the legislature, but the news gets worse.

The senate version of the bill just passed. Unanimously.

The Senate Education Committee voted 7-0 for the “Academic Freedom Act,” which says no teacher or professor in public schools or universities could be fired, denied tenure or otherwise discriminated against for presenting such theories, which could include creationism. The proposal could be debated by the 35-member Senate as soon as next week.

Seriously. There are days I’m thoroughly ashamed of this country.

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Comments:

#1041: — 03/11 at 02:21 PM
That "unanimously" part made my heart sink. Every time I try to tell myself that we couldn't really be sinking back into another dark ages, something like this comes along.

#1042: Reed A. Cartwright — 03/11 at 02:43 PM
The bill is worse than that. It doesn't even have to be in a biology classroom. The section, "in any curricula or course of learning," implies that any instructor from your thrid-grade PE teacher to your freshman english TA can undermine biology education.

#1043: Morat — 03/11 at 03:46 PM
Two questions:

1) Is it constitutional? Judging by past SCOTUS cases, no.
2) Who defines "scientific evidence"? Can their little ID buttocks be fired if the evidence isn't "scientific"? Who decides that?

And, of course, it's nice to see that in this age of state mandated requirements and detailed curriculums handed down from "On high" that Alabama is cutting against the grain by giving teachers state-protected leeway.

So, what we need is to get an English prof, for instance, to spend about three or four hours detailing - say -- Wiccan origin myths to 8th graders, and then when they try to fire him/her, we can refer to this lovely law.

#1044: Ben — 03/11 at 04:40 PM
Yeah, but Cretinism/ID isn't a scientific theory. Therefore the bill changes nothing. Rather large loophole, or am I reading this the wrong way?

Oh, I didn't see "...or points of view". I suppose it qualifies.

#1045: Virge — 03/14 at 10:37 PM
"Seriously. There are days I'm thoroughly ashamed of this country."

But it does provide opportunities for a good laugh on occasion.
SoCal city falls victim to Internet hoax, considers banning items made with water

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Thursday, March 11, 2004

Alabama sucks, too

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