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January 30, 2004
Evolution Saga Continues
After the AJC reported on the state's new science curriculum, which would ignore the last century of biological research, Kathy Cox was forced to defend the proposal:
She said it was not designed to appease Georgians who have religious conflicts with the scientific theory that all living things evolved from common ancestry.Cox later called "evolution" a "buzzword," implying somehow that "biological changes over time" and "intelligent design" are not. So far, according to the article, over a thousand people have sent letters of complaint regarding the new curriculum, and a relatively unsceintific AJC poll shows overwhelming opposition to the changes."This wasn't so much a religion vs. science, politics kind of issue," Cox said. "This was an issue of how do we ensure that our kids are getting a quality science education in every classroom across the state."
She said students need to understand that science is constantly changing and they need to be exposed to all legitimate theories.
Cox said that could include the teaching of "intelligent design," though it is not specifically mentioned in the proposed curriculum.
Posted by chuck at January 30, 2004 10:42 AM
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I'll create a hyperlink later in my blog, but here is a good petition making the rounds that argues against Georgia's new curriculum.
http://www.petitiononline.com/gasci04/
Posted by: chuck at January 30, 2004 5:21 PM
I'm sure you saw this already, Chuck, but I was amused and horrified to see that the new history curriculum omits any discussion of the Civil War. In Georgia!
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/0104/25history.html
Posted by: JBJ at February 1, 2004 10:39 AM
I've been planning to comment on that op-ed piece, but I've not been feeling well the last couple of days. But, yeah, this story has been receiving less attention than it should.
It's part of the same logic as eliminating "evolution" from science curriculum (which even Gov. Perdue has now criticized): teach less material and teach toward the state test in order to create the illusion of improvement.
Posted by: chuck at February 1, 2004 11:14 AM