Map: Publically Funded Schools That Teach Creationism

[cbayer]

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/01/creationism_in_public_schools_mapped_where_tax_money_supports_alternatives.html

JAN. 26 2014 6:30 PM
Map: Publically Funded Schools That Teach Creationism

Thousands of schools in states across the country take taxpayer money to cast doubt on basic science.

By Chris Kirk

A large, publicly funded charter school system in Texas is teaching creationism to its students, Zack Kopplin recently reported in Slate. Creationist teachers don’t even need to be sneaky about it—the Texas state science education standards, as well as recent laws in Louisiana and Tennessee, permit public school teachers to teach “alternatives” to evolution. Meanwhile, in Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Arizona, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, taxpayer money is funding creationist private schools through state tuition voucher or scholarship programs. As the map below illustrates, creationism in schools isn’t restricted to schoolhouses in remote villages where the separation of church and state is considered less sacred. If you live in any of these states, there’s a good chance your tax money is helping to convince some hapless students that evolution (the basis of all modern biological science, supported by everything we know about geology, genetics, paleontology, and other fields) is some sort of highly contested scientific hypothesis as credible as “God did it.”


more at link, including map which I am unable to link to

[ladjf]

1. Creationism is definitely NOT a science. It is merely a religious based notion about how things

to be. Creationism isn't even teachable beyond a couple of paragraphs. What would the course syllabus look like for full year course?

[cbayer]

3. I think most people here would agree with you.

That is why this is so disturbing.

I think they spend a lot of time "teaching" why evolution isn't true.

[ladjf]

8. If it's true that creationists are mainly trying to disprove Evolution,

they are fighting an uphill task. nt

[KansDem]

6. "What would the course syllabus look like for full year course?"

From 2009: "Help me design a semester course in Creationism"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5299097&mesg_id=5299097

[cbayer]

12. That's hilarious, KansDem!

[Downwinder]

2. Who accredits these schools and who accepts that accreditation?

[cbayer]

4. Looks to me like state boards of education are doing just that.

[Downwinder]

5. Wonder if these high school diplomas are accepted by

colleges and universities.

[cbayer]

7. Good question.

Were I reviewing these candidates, I would certainly want to look closely at what they were taught (and not taught).

[Downwinder]

10. OTOH is LSU going to require creationism?

[cbayer]

11. I doubt it, but it looks like they are going to have to deal with it.

[hrmjustin]

9. I can not believe they are teaching this in schools in this day and age.

[cleanhippie]

13. I can not believe people think a person rose from the dead in this day and age.

[hrmjustin]

14. oh you!

[cleanhippie]

15. Just poking a little fun at you.

On a more serious note, can you see how contradictory your positions are?

[hrmjustin]

16. If you are using pure logic it would be difficult to see him rising from the dead.

This is where faith kicks in. But I do not want public schools teaching either.

[cleanhippie]

17. So it's just the "in school" part you disagree with, not the teaching of absurdities to children?

[hrmjustin]

18. If parents want to teach their children creationism that is their right.

I find it cringe worthy because of all we know about our origins now.

I do nit want it taught in public schools.

[cleanhippie]

19. If I'm reading you right, teaching creationism is "cringe worthy" but teaching resurrection is not?

We can agree about not teaching any of it in public schools. I'm talking about the larger issue of teaching children absurdities as fact.

How can you see creationism as "cringe worthy" while seeing a person being resurrected from the dead is perfectly normal?

[hrmjustin]

20. Well the resurrection is a matter of faith. People have the right to bring their kids up in their

faith traditions.

Yes creationism is a matter of faith for some and they have the right to teach that to children.

To you they both seem absurd but to Christians it does not. It is a matter of what you believe in.

[cleanhippie]

21. I agree. I just find it difficult to comprehend how you can hold such contradictory positions

at the same time, in the same sentence, and seemingly not be affected by it at all.

[hrmjustin]

22. Well life is complicated and so is faith.

[cleanhippie]

23. Well, good luck with that.

Please forgive me if I fail to give your admonition of creationism the same weight I would to a non-believer. Surely you understand why?

[hrmjustin]

24. I understand why you feel as you do.

[cleanhippie]

25. Thats all I can ask for.

[Rob H.]

26. Tennessee doesn't surprise me

Thanks, "Monkey Bill"!

[Jim__]

27. Is this being contested in court?

The courts have consistently ruled against creationism, but Edwards v Aguillard does seem to leave some wiggle room:

Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578 (1987) was a legal case about the teaching of creationism that was heard by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1987. The Court ruled that a Louisiana law requiring that creation science be taught in public schools, along with evolution, was unconstitutional because the law was specifically intended to advance a particular religion. It also held that "teaching a variety of scientific theories about the origins of humankind to school children might be validly done with the clear secular intent of enhancing the effectiveness of science instruction."

[cbayer]

28. I'm not sure, but it should be.

It's basically religious beliefs being taught using taxpayer money.

I'm not sure there is a case for private schools, but Charter Schools present a big black hole.

[LeftishBrit]

29. In the UK, state-funded schools cannot teach creationism as scientific fact..

There are, however, a few private schools that do; though it's much less common than in the USA.

[cbayer]

30. Well, I would think that state-funded schools in the US can teach

it as scientific fact either, but apparently I am wrong.