TPMDC
Gov. Rick Perry’s claim to a child in New Hampshire Thursday that Texas public schools teach both Creationism and evolution wouldcome as a surprise to educators and students across the country. The Supreme Court had the last word on this in the 1980s when seven justices ruled that teaching Creationism as fact violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
But Perry’s precise words — “in Texas we teach both creationism and evolution in our public schools” — weren’t exactly spoken in error. Texas biology teachers must teach evolution, can’t teach Creationism, and can’t teach Intelligent Design or any other forms of crypto-Creationism. But the state’s curriculum does require schools to teach students to analyze and critique all scientific theories. And that means conservatives like Perry can pretend a loophole exists.
Asked for clarification, Perry’s spokesman Mark Miner emails, “It is required that students evaluate and analyze the theory of evolution, and creationism very likely comes up and is discussed in that process. Teachers are also permitted to discuss it with students in that context.”
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- Rick Perry: “Evolution Is A Theory That’s Out There” (alan.com)
- Rick Perry: ‘In Texas We Teach Both Creationism and Evolution’ (littlegreenfootballs.com)
- Rick Perry: Earth “Pretty Old” and Evolution “Got Some Gaps” (jonathanturley.org)
- Note to Rick Perry: Teaching Creationism in Public Schools is Illegal (littlegreenfootballs.com)
- Perry: We Teach Creationism in Texas Schools [Dispatches from the Creation Wars] (scienceblogs.com)
- Rick Perry, evolution, and a decided lack of intelligent design (dailykos.com)
- Rick Perry Gives Up the Ghost on the ‘Intelligent Design’ Lie [Science] (gawker.com)
- Rick Perry Admits That Texas Schools Teach Creationism (blogs.discovermagazine.com)