Some educators alarmed by support of non-science

From the Kentucky Enquirer:

FRANKFORT - Miriam Kannan is worried about the future of science education in
Kentucky.

At least three students, she said, have quit the biology program at Northern
Kentucky University because their religious beliefs made them uncomfortable
learning about evolution.

In his State of the Commonwealth address this year, Gov. Ernie Fletcher
encouraged schools to teach about "intelligent design" - the notion that some
intelligent force was involved in the creation of complex life.

And last month, the governor appointed five new members to the state Board of
Education, at least three of whom say they are open to public-school students
learning alternatives to evolution.

The trend alarms Kannan, an NKU biology professor and president of the Kentucky
Academy of Science.

It's fine to teach about intelligent design in non-science classes, she said.
But if public figures are putting it on equal footing with evolution, science
instruction is bound to get muddled, Kannan said. The two cannot be taught
side-by-side, because evolution is a testable theory - the basis of scientific
inquiry - and intelligent design is not, she said.

"The moment that you train a person in creationism, that person cannot be a
scientist. And the world is going forward on science," she said.

Members of the Kentucky Academy of Science voted to oppose efforts by Kentucky
governments to mandate content in science courses.

Brett Hall, the governor's spokesman, said the concern is overblown.

In a Feb. 13 letter to the academy, Fletcher said the existence of a creator is
a "self-evident truth" akin to two plus two equals four. The United States was
founded on this understanding, he wrote.

"Schools should be able to approach this subject from a historical perspective,
not a religious one, without offending anybody," Fletcher wrote.

Scientists shouldn't worry, because Fletcher never suggested intelligent design
be taught in science classes per se, Hall said.

Besides, Kentucky law already gives teachers the right to do so. Under KRS
158.177, they can instruct students in the Bible's creation theory whenever
evolution is mentioned. Students who believe in the Bible's version are even
allowed to write it on exams without losing points.

Chairman Keith Travis, a Marshall County Republican and the only current member
reappointed by Fletcher, said he would oppose any mandate to teach intelligent
design. It's a divisive subject that would only distract the board from its
mission to improve education, he said.

The governor did not ask any of his recent appointees for their views on
intelligent design, said Hall. And in public interviews with legislators, none
of them said they would force it on teachers.

Some did, however, support the idea of exposing students to the subject.

In a March 15 meeting of the House Education Committee, the three appointees
present were asked whether intelligent design should be taught in science
classes.

Jeanie Ferguson and Joe Brothers said they weren't sure.

Kaye Baird, a former teacher from Pikeville, said such decisions are up to the
site-based councils at each school. But she also said:

"Intelligent design and evolution - why don't we give students the choice, or
let them have facts about both of them? ... Don't we want our young people to be
open-minded and be thinkers?"

State Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, spoke against the three on the House floor,
but they were confirmed anyway. State Rep. Dennis Keene, D-Wilder, was among the
few who joined Stein in voting no. He said he was concerned about the
possibility of more demands on teachers.

"If you want your religious beliefs taught, you need to send your children to a
school and pay for that. Public schools have to appeal to everybody," Keene
said.

E-mail kgutierrez@nky.com

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