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Georgia's New State Superintendent Calls Evolution a Buzzword

ATLANTA — Georgia's school superintendent has proposed striking the word "evolution" from the state's science curriculum and replacing it with the phrase "biological changes over time."

The change, which drew criticism from both liberals and conservatives, is included in more than 800 pages of draft revisions to Georgia's curriculum posted on the Department of Education's Web site. The plan also omits topics such as Charles Darwin's life, fossil evidence and the emergence of single-celled microorganisms.

The middle- and high-school standards are expected to be voted on in May, after public comments. By Friday, more than 1,000 people had signed an online petition demanding restoration of the omitted sections.

"This is a real infringement on the freedom of teaching, and it has serious implications," said David Bechler, head of the biology department of Valdosta University.

Superintendent Kathy Cox said the concept of evolution still would be taught under the proposal, but the word would not be used. The proposal would not require schools to buy new textbooks omitting the word "evolution" and would not prevent teachers from using it.

Cox, a Republican elected to the post in 2002, repeatedly referred to evolution as a "buzzword" Thursday and said the ban was proposed, in part, to alleviate pressure on teachers in socially conservative areas where parents object to its teaching.

"If teachers across this state, parents across this state say, 'This is not what we want,' then we'll change it," Cox said.

Susan McKinney, who teaches biology to high-school students in Crisp County in southern Georgia, said she believes in natural selection, but skims over the material when her course touches on the fossil record and single-celled organisms believed to be among the first life forms on Earth. She said she considers the information a "tentative hypothesis" and recommends that students study the material independently if they wish.

"I can tell you, being in rural south Georgia, that it's kind of loose where you go and how far you go" in the teaching of evolution, McKinney said. "We don't go all the way down to how we came out of the primordial ooze."

Legislators and other educators criticized the proposal, saying science teachers understand theories behind evolution and how to teach them.

"Here we are, saying we have to improve standards and improve education, and we're just throwing a bone to the conservatives with total disregard to what scientists say," said state Rep. Bob Holmes, a Democrat.

Bechler, who participated in developing the curriculum, said he was astonished to discover that the passages had been eliminated in a second round of discussions. He said cutting the curriculum could seriously hurt the understanding of science.

"Right now, over in the Russian prison system, there is a form of incurable tuberculosis that has become resistant to antibiotics," he said. "That TB went through an evolutionary system to become resistant. You fight these things by understanding."

A handful of states — Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi and Oklahoma — avoid using the word "evolution" in teaching plans, replacing it with euphemisms such as "biological adaptation" or "change over time." Georgia, however, would be the first state to remove the word "evolution" from teaching plans after including it for years, according to the National Center for Science Education.

Former President Carter, a Baptist and Democrat who had served as Georgia governor before he was elected president in 1976, had harsh words for the change Friday.

"As a Christian, a trained engineer and scientist, and a professor at Emory University, I am embarrassed by Superintendent Kathy Cox's attempt to censor and distort the education of Georgia's students," Carter said in a statement.

Cox spokesman Kirk Englehardt said the superintendent respects Carter's opinion, "as we do the opinions of all citizens of Georgia."

"We would also like to make sure that President Carter, as well as the rest of Georgia's citizens, understands that we're not imposing a ban on evolution from textbooks or the classroom," he said.

Social conservatives who prefer religious creation to be taught criticized the proposal as well.

"If you're teaching the concept without the word, what's the point?" said Rep. Bobby Franklin, a Republican. "It's stupid. It's like teaching gravity without using the word gravity."



— Los Angeles Times and Associated Press
No 'evolution' in Georgia schools: Topic would have different name
Seattle Times
2004-02-01
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2001848554_evolution01.html

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