06.29.06
HB 5251 Passes House Education Committee
In a surprise move yesterday with virtually no public notice, the House Education Committee held a vote on HB 5251 and passed it on to the full house by a vote of 15-2. That’s the bad news. The good news is that Lawrence Wenke (R), the state representative whose district includes the Gull Lake School District, submitted an amendment that removed the specifics so that the bill now reads:
(10) Not later than August 1, 2006, the state board shall revise the recommended model core academic curriculum content standards in science to ensure that pupils will be able to do all of the following:
(a) Use the scientific method to critically evaluate scientific theories
(b) Use relevant scientific data to assess the validity of those theories and to formulate arguments for or against those theories.
Yesterday’s vote sends the matter to the full House for a vote, which could happen at any time. Our expectation is that the bill’s sponsors will attempt to re-amend the bill to add in the specific examples (adding “including, but not limited to, the theories of global warming and evolution” to the end of section a) when it comes up for a vote. We are urging everyone to call their state legislators, both in the House and the Senate, and encourage them to vote against this bill. It will only open the door to the teaching of “intelligent design” in public schools, baiting local school districts into a Dover trap.
Encouraged by the state legislature, they will believe that the teaching of intelligent design is legal and proper. The Federal courts, however, have already ruled to the contrary and declared the teaching of intelligent design to be unconstitutional. In the absence of a vote against the bill, we strongly encourage Michigan legislators to keep Rep. Wenke’s amendment in place and leave the specific references to evolution and global warming out of the bill.
Please call your state representative and state senator and tell them to protect science education in this state from policies like this, which only serve to undermine our ability to teach science in an accurate and objective manner. To find your state representative, click here. To find your state senator, click here.