Texas State Board of Education Chooses Scientifically Accurate Biology Textbooks

I was pointed by one of my readers to a news story on Right Wing Watch (a site I do not normally go to) that reports that the Texas State Board of Education has formally adopted the textbooks that present mainstream science and has done so without accepting any of the edits that were proposed by several groups, some of which are creationist in outlook.  Miranda Blue writes:

This afternoon, the Texas State Board of Education gave its final approval to a set of biology textbooks that include scientifically sound teachings about evolution, rebuffing a campaign by creationists to include “biblical principles” in science texts. However, the board delayed its approval of one of the books until a board of experts reviews the complaints of anti-evolutionists.

The Texas Freedom Network, which has been fighting to keep science in the state’s science textbooks, called the vote a “huge win for science education” and noted that “throughout the adoption process, publishers refused to make concessions that would have compromised science instruction on evolution and climate change in their textbooks.” People For the American Way joined TFN earlier this year to deliver 300,000 petitions to the school board urging them to reject attempts to insert creationism into science texts.

This is likely not the last that we will hear from the various groups that support the edits. People like Don McLeroy, Barbara Cargill and Cynthia Dunbar don't go away overnight and their supporters do not, either.

Gail Lowe: Damned With Faint Praise

The Dallas Morning News has an editorial on the selection of Gail Lowe to head the Texas State Board of Education. The author (whoever it is) writes:

Skirmishes over teaching creationism and defining reading standards have been among the latest meltdowns. Contentious fights have been such a problem that the Texas Senate refused this year to confirm Don McLeroy, a social conservative ringleader, as the elected body's chairman.

Enter Lowe. While we would have preferred someone from the moderate-Democrat side, we fully expected Perry to select a social conservative.

He apparently has picked one of the least objectionable members of that faction. Lowe voted against teaching creationism in science classes. And interestingly, Pat Hardy, a Republican member of the moderate-Democrat side, speaks favorably about Lowe, praising her intelligence and preparation.

She will not have a fun time of it, that's for sure. While Rick Perry didn't select Cynthia Dunbar, she is still on the board, along with several other creationists.


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Texas Curveball

Governor Rick Perry has decided to forgo the appointment of Cynthia Dunbar and, instead, appoint a newspaper publisher Gail Lowe to lead the board. The story by Shirley Jinkins in the Star-Telegram, states that Low has been described as a conservative Republican, but not in the outspoken way that McLeroy and Dunbar have been. The article notes:

"The announcement took me by surprise," Lowe said Friday from the offices of the Lampasas Dispatch-Record, a twice-weekly newspaper that she and her husband own and operate.

She learned of her appointment when a reporter from another newspaper called for comment.

"It’s not something I pursued," said Lowe, who said she had been asked to apply for the position last week by the governor’s appointment office.

The board is scheduled to meet next week, and an announcement from the governor was expected before Tuesday, the first day of the four-day meeting.

Interestingly, at no point in the article is the word "evolution" or the concept mentioned. A hopeful sign?
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Perry Leaning Toward Appointing Cynthia Dunbar

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Texas, Garry Scharrer, of the Houston Chronicle, reports that Texas governor Rick Perry is leaning toward selecting Cynthia Dunbar to replace the ousted Don McLeroy. This is not a step in the right direction. The story notes:

Dunbar, whose district runs from outside Houston to Austin, said she expresses her views so constituents know exactly where she stands.

“I believe constituents deserve to know our thoughts, which is why I have always been boldly transparent,” she said.

But if she is chosen to chair the board, Dunbar said, she would “play a different role” by focusing on leadership. She is confident she could bring the various board factions together.

“I would strive to be just, merciful and humble in my service,” Dunbar said of a potential promotion to board chair.

Merciful? Just who would you need to be merciful to? The story largely focuses on Dunbar's religious attitudes, which are not portrayed in the most positive light. The problem that I and many other people who are TEs have is that there is much in her religious stance that I agree with. But, as with so many people who are in these positions, she doesn't know a bit about the biological sciences and doesn't seem to want to learn.

It is somewhat puzzling, though, that Governor Perry would appoint as head of the SBOE someone who believes that the public schools are "tyrannical" and who homeschooled her children. I don't care much for public schools largely because the quality is usually poor (it is where we live) and we were convinced that we could give them a better education. On the other hand, I don't have the slightest inclination to run for the local school board, let alone the state one.

My concern stems from her public stance against evolutionary theory. I have posted on the views of Ms. Dunbar, here, where she accepted the writings of creationist Jerry Bergman, who misrepresented the work of Nobel Prize winner Werner Arber so badly that Arber issued a public denunciation.


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