Louisiana Almost Unanimously Passes The Science Education Act

With a 36-0 vote, Louisiana’s State Senate passed the Louisiana Science Education Act on June 16, 2008. The bill was previously passed by the State’s House of Representatives with a 94-3 vote. This is a landmark bill that should be passed throughout the nation to bring a balanced education into the science classroom. What the bill does is allow teachers to discuss both the evidence for and against Darwin's theory of evolution. The bill will "allow and assist teachers, principals, and other school administrators to create and foster an environment within public elementary and secondary schools that promotes critical thinking skills, logical analysis, and open and objective discussion of scientific theories being studied including, but not limited to, evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning." It does not force school districts to teach Intelligent Design, it merely allows for local school districts to allow additional scientific material into their curriculum that questions Darwinism. The bill does not mandate or allow for the teaching of creationism, as it says in Section 1D of the bill that it "shall not be construed to promote any religious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against a particular set of religious beliefs, or promote discrimination for or against religion or non-religion."

This is an issue of academic freedom and balance in education. I do not believe high school kids should be taught the theory of evolution if they are not going to be presented with the objections to it. That is pure indoctrination, not education. If questions against Darwin's theory are not allowed into the classroom then I believe Darwinism should not be taught until the college level. But I believe that a bill such as the one passed by such overwhelming numbers in Louisiana and signed by Governor Bobby Jindal provides teachers the opportunity to provide a balanced portrait of Darwinism. It is the type of bill that should be passed in all 50 states. Science classrooms should not discuss Creationism, God, Jesus, Genesis, the Bible, or anything of that nature. That is not for the science classroom. I do not think it is even necessarily important for an alternative to evolution (such as Intelligent Design) to be put forth. It is more important that evolution itself be studied critically and that the questions that those such as Michael Behe, William Dembski, or David Berlinski have about evolution be allowed in the classroom. Legitimate questions against evolution should be permitted and students should be informed of all sides of this heated debate.

Wade Warren, Professor of Biology and Cavanaugh Chair in Biology at Louisiana College, testified in favor of the bill before the Louisiana legislature last month. He said that "this is great news for the science teachers in public school classrooms in Louisiana, and it's great news for science education in the whole State of Louisiana. Not all DNA and fossil evidence support a Darwinian view of life. This bill gives teeth to the freedom of a public school science teacher to ask their students to objectively analyze the scientific data.”


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