Chris Comer resigned this month as the director of the science curriculum for the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) director after more than nine years. Comer said her resignation was due to pressure from officials who claimed she had given the appearance of criticizing the teaching of intelligent design.
According to documents obtained by the Austin American-Statesman, “Comer was put on 30 days paid administrative leave shortly after she forwarded an e-mail in late October announcing a presentation by Barbara Forrest, a critic of the intelligent design/creationist movement. Forrest served as an expert witness at the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial. At Dover, intelligent design was ruled “a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory.” There is widespread scientific support for evolution, while creationism has been described as pseudoscience by the scientific community.
Comer’s resignation comes shortly ahead of the TEA’s State Board of Education (SBOE) reviews of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), which determine what should be taught in the classrooms and what textbooks are bought.
The advocacy group Texas Citizens for Science have released a statement saying, in part, “The real reason [Comer] was forced to resign is because the top TEA administrators and some SBOE members wanted her out of the picture before the state science standardsthe science TEKSwere reviewed, revised, and rewritten next year. Plans are underway by some SBOE members and TEA administrators to diminish the requirement to teach about evolutionary biology in the Biology TEKS and to require instead that biology instructors ‘Teach the Controversy’ about the ‘weaknesses’ of evolution, that is, teach the Creationist-inspired and -created bogus controversy about evolution that doesn’t exist within legitimate science.”
Professor PZ Myers, biology professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris, wrote that Forrest is “exactly the kind of person boards of education ought to consult before going down the road of attempting to legislate religion into the public schools.”
In reaction to the news Forrest told National Center for Science Education, “In my talk, I simply told the truth — about the history of the ‘intelligent design’ movement, about the complete rejection of its claims by the scientific community, and about the Kitzmiller trial and my involvement in it. Maybe the TEA can’t afford to take a position on what constitutes good science education — maybe it must remain neutral on whether or not to lie to students about evolution — but if so, that’s just sad.”
Agency officials declined to comment, saying it was a personnel issue.
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Dangerous Intersection » Blog Archive » Texas Education Agency Science Expert Fired for Indirectly dissing Intelligent Design said,
November 30, 2007 at 5:27 pm
» Evolution: Texas said,
December 1, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Paul Burnett said,
Intelligent design creationism is not science, but religion, which cannot be taught in public schools. This lesson cost the Dover school district a million dollars, and every school board member involved was defeated in the next election. It is beginning to look like the State of Texas is about to make the same stupid mistake, and become another laughingstock in the long losing history of creationists’ attempts to regain ground lost to science, particularly (but not just limited to) evolution.
Forcing the resignation of a science curriculum director for mentioning science instead of religion is a step into the Dark Ages. To see what the theocrats in the Texas Education Agency were so terrified of, see Barbara Forrest’s paper “Understanding the intelligent design creationist movement: Its true nature and goals,” available at http://www.centerforinquiry.net/uploads/attachments/intelligent-design.pdf
But beware: If you are an employee of the State of Texas, you may be fired for reading (or even thinking about) Dr. Forrest’s paper.
December 1, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Paul Burnett said,
“More than 100 biology faculty members from universities across Texas signed a letter sent Monday to state Education Commissioner Robert Scott saying Texas Education Agency employees should not have to remain neutral on evolution.” - http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/12/12/12122007wacbaylorevolution.html
(As of December 19 2007 there were over 150 signatories - but see below.)
The original letter and a reply to the “official” state response is available at http://www.texscience.org/reviews/biology-professor-letter.htm - I highly recommend that anybody interested in this toic read it. It includes this statement that their letter:
“…is a professional judgment that the claims of “weaknesses” in evolution are based on shoddy scholarship. We wish to assure you that not a single so-called weakness promoted by anti-evolutionists has passed scientific muster. For example, the Discovery Institute’s recent publication Exploring Evolution: The Arguments for and against Neo-Darwinism, which was written to facilitate classroom discussions of “weaknesses,” is demonstrably full of factual errors and logical fallacies. We would be more than happy to help you understand the flaws in any of the “weakness” arguments that you or members of the Board are uncertain about.”
Sadly, there is also this comment in the reply letter:
“You commented on the disclaimer in our original letter, that the letter reflected our own professional opinions. I should point out that this was only added because the ouster of Ms. Comer created an atmosphere of intimidation. A number of faculty expressed concern over possible retribution from their state employers for signing the letter. Some chose not to sign for fear of their jobs, others signed on the condition that the disclaimer be added.”
My prophetic statement in my December 1 comment (above) has almost (and may yet) come true: “But beware: If you are an employee of the State of Texas, you may be fired for reading (or even thinking about) Dr. Forrest’s paper.”
December 21, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Paul Burnett said,
“We look forward to working with the SBoE to rephrase 3A to encourage critical thinking in all the sciences, without providing a backdoor for scientifically unsound weaknesses that are currently being promoted by the Discovery Institute and other creationist organizations.” (emphasis added)
These are actual scientists - actual biologists - they understand what the Discovery Institute is, and what it’s trying to do.
December 22, 2007 at 9:01 am