PZ Myers. 2003 Jul 20. Minnesota education standards and creationism. <http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/minnesota_education_standards_and_creationism/>. Accessed 2008 Dec 01.

Posted on M00o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr on Sunday, July 20, 2003

Minnesota education standards and creationism

This is something to get angry about. Our new education commissioner for the state of Minnesota, Cheri Yecke, is assembling committees to set state standards for science and social studies. That's good. Defining what students should be taught is exactly what an education commissioner should be doing.

However, in the Friday, 18 July 2003 Minneapolis Star Tribune, we have these comments:

There will be no debate about whether creationism should be taught alongside evolution. When a newly minted committee meets to figure out what Minnesota students should learn about science, that will already be decided, according to Minnesota Education Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke.

But she said she will instruct the science committee to avoid any clashes over the teaching of evolution. She will cite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prohibits the teaching of strict creationism in the classroom and a section of the new federal No Child Left Behind Act that strongly advises school districts to teach evolution in a way that "helps the student to understand the full range of scientific views that exist, why such topics may generate controversy, and how scientific discoveries can profoundly affect society."

"My purpose is that we don't need to enter that debate," Yecke said. "And that these decisions lay with the local school boards."

This is disgraceful for two reasons.

• It is a blatant abnegation of responsibility. It is the job of the commissioner and this committee to define what our students should know. Yecke is intentionally leaving a gaping hole in the standards.
• It is dishonest. There is no controversy here; evolution is the best explanation for biological diversity. That a very vocal minority of grossly unqualified religious fundamentalists object to a scientific fact does not make it "controversial". This is clearly a ploy on the part of an extreme right-winger to simultaneously remove creationism from the curriculum while trying to legitimize creationism as a respectable alternative.

Yecke is also playing fast and loose by misrepresenting the law. There was a "No Child Left Behind" act. There was also an amendment by Senator Rick Santorum (made with the behind-the-scenes assistance of Philip Johnson) that attempted to insert the quoted text above. However, the Santorum amendment was stricken from the final version of the bill. Creationists have frequently made this assertion that it is part of the law -- which makes it particularly interesting that Yecke is echoing this false claim -- but it is easily checked by actually examing the legislative record. These shenanigans have been thoroughly documented on Ken Miller and Joe Levine's web site.

This is all bad news. Minnesota has had a good reputation as a state supportive of education, but we now have closet creationist playing games with our educational standards. We risk getting the same reputation for peddling medieval superstitions in our public schools that Kansas and Ohio had. I hope the citizens of Minnesota will be as active and vocal in fighting this corruption of our educational system as were the citizens of those states.

1. 10/1/03
   
   PZ Myers,
   
   I am a student at the Perpich Arts High School; I am working on a school project regarding the social studies and science education standards in Minnesota. I am looking for interviews concerning the subject. I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to interview you about the new science standards. Please contact me promptly at <narmadariv@aol.com>.
   
   Thank you very much
   
   #: Posted by  on  10/01  at  05:50 PM