Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Michigan: The Worm in the Apple
"As many Michigan teens continue to leave high school unprepared and the state struggles to diversify and strengthen its economy, Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Legislature are supporting legislation to mandate high school graduation requirements. One specific provision of House Bill 5606, awaiting action in the Senate, is particularly troublesome.
"There is a worm in this basket of apples -- a single line of text that could damage science education, economic progress and even religious freedom, if it isn't removed. Nationwide, at least a dozen similar legislative bills would undermine science education by emphasizing "flaws" in the theory of evolution, generally by calling for more critical thinking, though only when it comes to the teaching of evolution."
From a column in the Detroit Free Press by Gilbert S. Omenn, MD, PhD, who chairs the board of directors for the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is a professor of medicine at the University of Michigan, and Alan I. Leshner, PhD, chief executive officer of AAAS and executive publisher of the journal Science.
"There is a worm in this basket of apples -- a single line of text that could damage science education, economic progress and even religious freedom, if it isn't removed. Nationwide, at least a dozen similar legislative bills would undermine science education by emphasizing "flaws" in the theory of evolution, generally by calling for more critical thinking, though only when it comes to the teaching of evolution."
From a column in the Detroit Free Press by Gilbert S. Omenn, MD, PhD, who chairs the board of directors for the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is a professor of medicine at the University of Michigan, and Alan I. Leshner, PhD, chief executive officer of AAAS and executive publisher of the journal Science.
