Isn't Oklahoma somewhere near Kansas?

I knew that the wrath of God displayed by the wildfires a few weeks ago would convince them to change their wicked ways and introduce creationist legislation!

Sir Oolius: I actually think that was God attempting to warn them. "No more revealing my secrets! For without faith I am nothing, and I don't want to vanish in a puff of logic."

Why do people work so hard to protect their ignorance?

Thanks PZ. We are indeed experienceing a rash of creationist lunacy here (which is standard operating procedure for the state), but I have to give it to the hard-working people at Oklahoman's for Excellence in Science Education, particularly Dr. Vic Hutchison at Oklahoma University, who are fighting it and keeping it from getting into the schools. The last few years have seen similar tries at getting anti-evolution legislation into law, but have been successfully fought each time. Thank goodness a favorable ruling in Dover can now be used to give some weight to the argument. Thanks again for the post.

I went ahead and read HB 2107, and am very curious what it is, specifically, that you object to?

Is it "the affirmative right and freedom to present scientific information pertaining to the full range of scientific views in any curricula or course of learning."

Or is it "Students may be evaluated based upon their understanding of course materials, but no student, in any public school shall be penalized in any way because the student may subscribe to a particular position on scientific views."

The reference in (D) to "biological or chemical origins of life" is a clear indication that the bill is aimed specifically at evolution, as is the legislative finding that "existing law does not expressly protect the right of teachers identified by the United States Supreme Court in Edwards v. Aguillard to present scientific critiques of prevailing scientific theories."

So the law states,in effect, that no student shall be penalized in any way for subscribing to the little green gremlin theory of chemical bonds (which states that all molecules form when their constituent atoms, which are actually little green gremlins, hold hands) rather than ionic bonding or electronegativity? Or that oxidation-reduction reactions are actually socio-cultural trends plus emigration/immigration in little-green-gremlin-land?

Well, gee, who could possibly find THAT objectionable?

And believe me, any grade below an A is perceived by some parents as a punishment! I once saw a parent (who was also a school employee) insist her daughter deserved a better grade than a D because "at least she was in class every day". Most of us were amazed that the daughter could walk and chew gum at the same time, despite her persistent displays of the ability.

hugs,
Shirley Knott

Um, online petitions don't work. Ever.

"Students may be evaluated based upon their understanding of course materials, but no student, in any public school shall be penalized in any way because the student may subscribe to a particular position on scientific views."

Translation:

Students may not be penalized for playing X-Box all night before a biology test and then writing "God did it" as the answer to every question.

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It's too bad the Universe doesn't have built-in mechanisms to penalize people who deny evolution, like it does for gravity and electricity. Then science classes wouldn't need to take on that responsibility.

And why do you think online petitions do not work? The national Clergy Letter Project, OESE's Steve project and others work for the purposes intended - gaining publicity. The Oklahoma petition is not for a referendum vote, but only an expression of the signees on the subject.

We used similar petitions in the past to help defeat creationst bills. Legislators do respond to numbers. When showing them copies of the petitions, they really get interested when they see ZIP codes from their own districts.

The defeat of the Tulsa Zoo religious exhibits was due in part ot the large number of signatures obtained; the religious group also had a petition, but they were out numbered - all covered in the news media.

Furthermore, the Oklahoma petition can be downloaded and circulated as hard copy - that is being done now. This enables supporters to ask for signatures at meetings, etc.

In the past pro-creationist petitions were passed for signatures in churches and used in the same way. Our first petition was in answer to that tactic.

Obvious fake signatures (Mickey Mouse, Superman, BibleMan, etc.) can be easily removed in both online and hard copies.
Data from the hard copies can be assimilated into the spread sheet containing the electronic sign-ups.

I've sent letters to my reps, as well as the dimwit author of 2107 - except I wasn't that nice. I'm going to follow up next week with telephone calls. I'll add my sig to the petition too ... wth.
Thanks for your hard work on our behalf Vic!

And yeah PZ, we're too close to Kansas, and why it's so windy, 'cause Texas blows and Kansas sucks ... or visa versa depending on the wind. :-)

And Matt, congrats on the Bedlam win.

"...[No] student, in any public school shall be penalized in any way because the student may subscribe to a particular position on scientific views..."

Does this include the view "I don't give a flying leap about science or science class, and I refuse to spend even thirty seconds on studying or doing homework"?

Oh, all right. Give the kid an A and send him to the NASA public relations office.

"Students may not be penalized for playing X-Box all night before a biology test and then writing "God did it" as the answer to every question."

Read the paragraph again. It says:

"Students may be evaluated based upon their understanding of course materials, but no student, in any public school shall be penalized in any way because the student may subscribe to a particular position on scientific views"

The point is that they have to get the answers right on the test, but do not have to subscribe to what is presented themselves. What is wrong with that?

"So the law states,in effect, that no student shall be penalized in any way for subscribing to the little green gremlin theory of chemical bonds...Well, gee, who could possibly find THAT objectionable?"

Please tell me what _is_ wrong with that from a school standpoint? If the student is able to answer the questions the teacher asks correctly, what is the issue with the student personally subscribing to another theory, no matter how bad it is? Why should that be penalized when the student demonstrates a full understanding of the theory being taught?

Is it the consensus of Pharyngula that students should be penalized for holding views different from the establishment even when they completely understand and can answer questions intelligently about the one being presented? Why should schools penalize this? How is that the role of the school? How is that different from indoctrination?

They don't work because, unlike physical petitions, online petitions can easily be forged, like, say, signing it multiple times (online, this can easily be faked, whereas in written petitions, a consistency in handwriting would be noticeable).

Decloaking from LurKerMode for a while:
Having recently moved from Tulsa to Memphis this saddens me: one more thing for the folk back in OK to have to overcome.
BTW: who else notices a massive correlation between states who think it is ok to mess with beer and turn it into 3% swill and states that think it is a good idea to teach ID?

"BTW: who else notices a massive correlation between states who think it is ok to mess with beer and turn it into 3% swill and states that think it is a good idea to teach ID?"

Absolutely, people messing with the LAWS of nature...

"Is it the consensus of Pharyngula that students should be penalized for holding views different from the establishment even when they completely understand and can answer questions intelligently about the one being presented? Why should schools penalize this?"

Do schools penalize students now if they get the questions right but don't believe their answers? I'm having a hard time understanding why this law needs to exist unless it is leverage to claim penalization when a student gets low grades in a topic they don't believe in.

Jonathan Bartlett quoted "Students may be evaluated based upon their understanding of course materials, but no student, in any public school shall be penalized in any way because the student may subscribe to a particular position on scientific views"

Why did the board pick Science? Why not mathematics, English and Social Studies"? The Education Board is way too restrictive and short sighted. We have to fight for the child who is disturbed that the US lost the War in Viet Nam. Hey... he wants a win, I say you give it to him. There's more... The slaughter during the Spanish Inquisition... Millions dead? C'mon, let's call it a skirmish and get ice cream. Ohh... and my favorite, geometry. One type of rectangle, all of the time! All of the fuss over isosceles and scalene? Heck, I'm not even sure I spelled Scalene correctly.
You are right Mr. Bartlett. It is time we started letting the children run the schools. Let THEM decide what is proper course material. Lord knows, their parents have done a dismal job of it.

Bill Creating "Academic Freedom Act" Passes Committee

OKLAHOMA CITY- (February 13, 2006) - Oklahoma teachers are one step
closer to being able to teach a broader view of evolution without fear
after a bill by State Rep. Sally Kern passed the House Common Education
Committee on a bipartisan vote today.