[Buddha-l] [Fwd: Bruce Alberts, NAS president: The Evolution Controversy in Our Schools]

[Richard P. Hayes]

Here is a letter making the rounds on the Internet tha may be of
interest to some of you who are concerned with educational issues in the
Land of the Fleas and the Home of the Blind.

from:  Bruce Alberts
President, National Academy of Sciences

-----Original Message-----
Subject: The Evolution Controversy in Our Schools


Dear Colleagues:

I write to alert you to efforts by the National Academies to
confront the increasing challenges to the teaching of evolution
in public schools; your help may be needed in your state soon.

On February 7, 2005, Michael Behe, a founder and leading
proponent of the Intelligent Design (ID) movement, published a
long Op-Ed in the New York Times in response to an editorial that
the Times had released the previous week. In that letter, Dr.
Behe claimed that some words I wrote support his view that
scientific explanations for the evolution of life on the Earth
need to be modified to insert the work of an "intelligent
designer."

In my response to the Times (see
http://www.nas.edu/nas/feb05times-evolution), I pointed out that,
while my words are reflected correctly in Behe's column, he
completely misrepresents the intent of my statement. This is a
common tactic among those who are attempting to introduce
religious views of the origins of life into the public schools --
or who are trying to undermine the teaching of evolution because
of purported "weaknesses" in the theory.

I write to you now because of a growing threat to the teaching of
science through the inclusion of non-scientifically based
"alternatives" in science courses throughout the country. A recent
article in the Washington Post pointed out that there are
challenges to the teaching of evolution in 40 states or local
school districts around the country today (for more details, visit
the website of the National Center for Science Education,
http://ncseweb.org).  Major newspapers, magazines, and other media
(e.g., Time, Newsweek, MSNBC, National Geographic) have featured
major stories about the controversy during the past six months.

Recent tactics to cast doubt on the veracity or robustness of the
theory of evolution have included placing disclaimer stickers in
the front of high school biology textbooks (Cobb County, GA and
Alabama; proposal before the Missouri House of Representatives),
mandating or recommending the inclusion of Intelligent Design in
high school biology courses (e.g., Dover, PA; Cecil County, MD,
respectively); development of statewide lesson plans that
encourage students to examine "weaknesses" in the theory of
evolution (Ohio), and plans to revisit parts of state science
standards that focus on evolution (Kansas State Board of
Education). If these challenges have not yet reached where you
live or work, they are likely to do so in time.

A federal judge recently ruled the Cobb County stickers to be
unconstitutional and has ordered them removed from all textbooks;
an appeal is pending. The courts will soon hear a lawsuit brought
by the ACLU on behalf of parents in Dover County, PA about
whether ID also is tantamount to promoting religion (for
additional information about the various forms of "scientific
creationism" and ID, see
http://www.ncseweb.org/article.asp?category=8). However, these
challenges continue unabated across our nation, and the New York
Times and Education Week report that even where the controversy
is not overt, teachers are quietly being urged to avoid teaching
about evolution -- or have decided not to do so because it
engenders so much rancor from a subgroup of students, parents,
and members of the school board or local community. As a result,
one of the foundations of modern science is being neglected or
banished outright from science classrooms in many parts of the
United States.

If your discipline is not the life sciences, you may be wondering
why I have chosen to write to all members of the National Academy
of Sciences. Although the controversy focuses primarily on
biology, some who challenge the teaching of evolution in our
nation's schools have also focused their sights on the earth and
physical sciences. For example, when the Kansas Board of
Education first removed portions of biological evolution from
their science standards in 1998, they also eliminated statements
mandating that Kansas students learn about the Big Bang, that
there is overwhelming evidence that the earth is much older than
10,000 years, and the theory of plate tectonics. All of these
items were returned to the Kansas standards following extensive
pressure from many organizations, including a joint letter signed
by me and the Presidents of AAAS and the National Science
Teachers Association (see
http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/s09231999?OpenDocument)
and the removal of several Board members during a subsequent
election. But, as noted earlier, the Kansas Board of Education
plans to re-examine their science standards because the 2004
election has again resulted in a majority who favor the
inclusion of "alternatives to evolution" in the state's science
curriculum.

The National Academies have been involved for many years in
helping scientific colleagues, teachers, and concerned citizens
in individual states and school districts respond. While these
challenges have national implications for science and science
education, they are typically viewed as local issues, and
"meddling" from organizations in Washington, DC is often viewed
with skepticism. As a result, when asked to assist, I have
contacted NAS members who live in the state where a specific
challenge is presented, enlisting their assistance through the
writing of op-ed pieces, speaking at school board meetings and
related activities. The NAS also has published three reports,
two of which are specifically directed to science teachers to
help them understand both evolutionary theory and the social
controversies that surround its teaching. Descriptions of these
reports and our efforts to confront challenges to the teaching
of evolution are summarized in a recent article published in
Cell Biology Education (see
http://cellbioed.org/articles/vol3no2/article.cfm?articleID=98).

We stand ready to help others in addressing the increasingly
strident attempts to limit the teaching of evolution or to
introduce non-scientific "alternatives" into science courses and
curricula.  If this controversy arrives at your doorstep, I hope
that you will both alert us to the specific issues in your state
or school district and be willing to use your position and
prestige as a member of the NAS in helping us to work locally.

I have asked Dr. Jay Labov, Senior Advisor for Education and
Communications in the NRC and a former professor of biology, to
oversee the Academies' efforts in this realm. Please address all
of your comments, ideas, and requests for assistance directly to
him (jlabov at nas.edu; Telephone: 202-334-1458).

Thank you very much. We look forward to hearing from you.

With best regards,

Bruce Alberts
President
National Academy of Sciences