The Dilemma of Rick Perry

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has an article on the current dilemma of Rick Perry, who's renomination of Don McLeroy as head of the Texas State Board of Education just went down in flames. They are not hopeful for a quick resolution:

The board’s most recent factionalism came during discussions of science curriculum standards, and McLeroy led the faction that pushed for teaching students about adding creationism and intelligent design. That debate exploded into what was taken as inserting religion into public school classrooms.

Some would argue that it wasn’t that at all, that it was an attempt to teach all theories of mankind’s origins. If that’s the case, McLeroy was not effective in getting the message across.

Indeed, he struggled during the debate. His point seemed to be that "experts" are wrong when they say evolution is the foundation of modern biology. He said genetics, the study of heredity and variation in similar or related animals, provides that foundation.

He called evolution "philosophical speculation" that reflects a certain religious viewpoint. Other views should be presented in classrooms as well, he said.

Eventually, the state board said schools should be encouraged to scrutinize all sides of scientific theories. That didn’t really settle anything, because many people who back the teaching of evolution say creationism and intelligent design are religion, not science.

McLeroy’s hometown senator, Steve Ogden of Bryan, said during the confirmation debate last week that rejecting McLeroy’s nomination would send a message that would be interpreted by some Texans as "if you are a conservative, if you believe in the infallibility and the literacy of the Bible, there’s no need to apply to be on the State Board of Education."

It was certainly McLeroy's comment that evolution is "philosophical speculation," (which is like calling Newtonian physics "philosophical speculation"), that got the ball rolling. His comment about "someone has got to stand up to the experts" didn't help matters. McLeroy neither attempted to learn about evolution, nor tried to understand why scientists felt so strongly about teaching it. Such a position was simply untenable for the job he held.

The statement of senator Ogden is disturbing on several levels. One one level, it shows that he has completely bought into the notion that evolution = atheism, a position that is unfounded. On the second level, though, it furthers the politicization and "religiousization" of the problem. Science should never be politicized, which is exactly what McLeroy did, by representing and promoting a particular constituency. Having said that, the YEC constituency exists regardless of what people like McLeroy do or don't do. Promoting shoddy science on their behalf, though, does nobody any favors.

In a sense, the writer of the piece is correct in that this problem will never go away. As long as the constituency exists that believes in a literal 6k year-old creation, they will vote in the people that will support teaching that. This is why the school boards must be removed from the political process, as the Texas legislature is trying to do. That won't stop Rick Perry from appointing another creationist to head the board, though. The key is to insulate the curriculum writers from the actions of the board. I do not have high hopes that that will happen anytime soon.

McLeroy is Out

Terrence Stutz of the Dallas Morning News is reporting that Don McLeroy, the head of the Texas State Board of Education has failed to pass his confirmation hearing:

Along strict party lines, the Senate voted 19-11 for McLeroy, but a two-thirds majority was required. One Democrat abstained from the vote.

Several Democrats cited the recurring divisiveness on the board with McLeroy at the helm, along with his resistance to the views of educators and education experts on curriculum and other matters.

GOP senators rejected the criticism and accused the Democrats of holding an "inquisition" against the College Station Republican for holding views shared by many Texans – including a Bible-based explanation for the origin of humans.

No, actually, the Democrats were trying to keep Texas from looking like more of a laughing stock than it already has become on this issue. As to the last statement: if many Texans thought that the earth was flat, should that be taught in Texas public schools? Oh, and I also happen to have a "Bible-based" explanation for the origin of humans. It just isn't Dr. McLeroy's "Bible-based" explanation.

Texas: Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fire

Texas democrats claim they have enough votes to remove Donald McLeroy as head of the Texas State Board of Education, according to a story by Gary Scharrer in the Houston Chronicle. He writes:

The Bryan dentist has presided over a contentious 15-member State Board of Education that fought over curriculum standards for science earlier this year and English language arts and reading last year. Critics faulted McLeroy for applying his strong religious beliefs in shaping new science standards. McLeroy believes in creationism and that the Earth is about 6,000 years old.

“This particular State Board of Education under the leadership of Dr. McLeroy has been divisive. It’s been dysfunctional, and it has been embarrassing to the point of having commentary on this in the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal,” said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

McLeroy’s leadership, she said, had made Texas “the laughing stock of the nation.”

It certainly has done that. But just when you thought things in Texas might get better, comes this:

There is speculation in the Capitol and within the Texas Education Agency that Gov. Rick Perry might elevate Cynthia Dunbar, R-Richmond, to lead the board. Like McLeroy, Dunbar also holds strong Christian beliefs and recently authored a book that advocates more religion in the public square. “We believe that Texans deserve better than divisive, destructive, extreme leadership,” Shapleigh said. “If the governor chooses to appoint someone more extreme and more divisive, we’ll have to deal with that at the appropriate time.”

Ms. Dunbar, if you will remember, stood up in front of the Texas Board of Education and completely misrepresented Nobel Prize-winning physiologist Werner Arber's work as being anti-Darwinian on the strength of an ICR paper by Jerry Bergman. The misrepresentation received swift condemnation from Dr. Arber, himself. If Cynthia Dunbar is raised to the head of the SBOE, Texas may be back at square one.