BoatBanter.com - Textbook Publishers Turn Thumbs Down to Creationism

PUBLISHERS RESIST PRESSURE TO UNDERMINE EVOLUTION COVERAGE
IN PROPOSED TEXAS SCIENCE TEXTBOOKS

Changes Submitted to Texas Education Agency Show No Retreat on Evolution

Materials submitted to the Texas Education Agency and examined by the
Texas Freedom Network and university scientists show that publishers are
resisting pressure to undermine instruction on evolution in their
proposed new high school biology textbooks for public schools.

“This is a very welcome development for everyone who opposes teaching
phony science about evolution in our kid’s public schools,” Texas
Freedom Network President Kathy Miller said. “Texas parents can applaud
these publishers for standing up to pressure from politicians and
activists who want to put their personal beliefs ahead of giving Texas
students a 21st-century science education.”

Publishers submitted their proposed science textbooks for adoption in
Texas last April. Last month State Board of Education Chairwoman Barbara
Cargill, R-The Woodlands, asked publishers to submit by Oct. 4 any
changes they propose to meet objections to content raised by citizens
appointed to review the textbooks. The Texas Education Agency made the
publishers’ proposed changes available to the public on Oct. 11.

Some reviewers had criticized the proposed biology textbooks for failing
to include a variety of discredited arguments attacking evolution. For
example, reviewers lowered the rating of one textbook because it didn’t
include the inaccurate claim that scientists have found no transitional
fossils and that “the fossil record can be interpreted in other ways
than evolutionary with equal justification.” Another reviewer insisted
that all of the textbooks teach “creation science based on Biblical
principles” alongside evolution.

Editorial changes from all 14 publishers that submitted high school
biology textbooks for adoption this year do not reflect those arguments
and beliefs, TFN’s examination shows.

The anti-evolution arguments promoted by the textbook reviewers are
based on claims that scientists have shown to be false or simply have no
place in a science textbook, said Arturo De Lozanne, associate professor
in molecular cell and developmental biology at the University of Texas
at Austin.

“From what I can see so far, publishers are resisting pressure to do
things that would leave high school graduates in Texas ill-prepared to
succeed in a college science classroom,” De Lozanne said. “If we want
Texas kids to be competitive nationally, we have to ensure that what
they learn in their high school classrooms is based on facts, not
ideology. Having said that, it’s remarkable and distressing that some
folks are still arguing over what really is established, mainstream
science.”

The State Board of Education is scheduled to vote on which science
textbooks to adopt for Texas public schools at its November meeting.
Most school districts will buy their textbooks from the state board’s
list. The new textbooks could be in classrooms for nearly a decade,
beginning in fall 2014.

http://tinyurl.com/kxhbccs

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You gotta keep pushing religious zealots to the floor.