Not So Intelligent

In March 2009, the Texas State Board of Education voted to adopt requirements that students examine "all sides of scientific evidence," among other things. While this sounds innocent enough, it arises from the ongoing evolution vs. creationism debate(or "Intelligent Design" as they call it now.) In reality, it serves as an attempt to create uncertainty among students about the theory of evolution, as well as open the door for creationist attacks on evolution in school textbooks.

This is a problem because it singles out and tampers with the theory of evolution for nonscientific reasons. I'm not saying it's a bad thing for evolution to be questioned. It's a good thing for the theory of evolution, just like any other scientific theory, to be examined, questioned, and revised if necessary to match conflicting proofs and stay aligned with empirical evidence. That is how science works, after all. But to require it be viewed under a magnifying glass of uncertainty on an ideological basis, rather than a scientific one, is absurd.

What can we do about it? For now, as Texas voters, we can participate in elections and make sure we're electing the right people to the State Board of Education in the first place. But the board has had a history of controversy, including a more recent revision of history textbooks that removes or alters some key figures in American history. Some argue that they're introducing a right-leaning bias, while others argue that they're removing a left-leaning bias that was already in place. While I don't pretend to have an informed opinion on that particular subject, it seems clear to me that, in the State Board of Education's present form, partisan debates will always enter the academic world. Sooner or later, the board needs to be revised or abolished. We need a better way to represent and regulate the academic interests of Texas.