09.22.06
MCFS Press Release on DeVos Campaign Falsely Claiming Misrepresentation
September 22,2006
Dr. Robert T. Pennock
President, Michigan Citizens for Science
http://www.michigancitizensforscience.org
president@michigancitizensforscience.org
As the views of gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos on teaching “intelligent design” in public schools have come to the public’s attention in the last few days, the DeVos campaign seems to be engaging in doubletalk on the issue. A Michigan Citizens for Science member wrote to the campaign inquiring about those views. Bizarrely, the DeVos camp is claiming he was misrepresented by the Detroit Free Press when in fact they quoted a statement the campaign put out almost verbatim. Here’s the full text of their email response. We’ve marked certain key phrases in different ways for comparison purposes:
Thank you for your email. It is unfortunate that Dick DeVos was misrepresented by a reporter in a recent news article regarding his position on the teaching of intelligent design.
The truth is Dick DeVos has always believed that our children should be provided with more knowledge, not less. Lots of intelligent people can disagree about the origins of life. In the end, Dick DeVos believes in our system of local control. He believes local school boards should have the opportunity to offer evolution and intelligent design in their curriculums.
Thank you again for taking the time to write and share your thoughts.
Sincerely,
The DeVos Team
Now let’s compare that to what Free Press reporters Chris Christoff and Lori Higgins actually said Compare the similarly marked sections to one another:
Controversy over evolution theory bounced into the race for governor Wednesday, as Republican candidate Dick DeVos said Michigan science classes should be allowed to present intelligent design as a possible explanation of diverse life on Earth.
“Lots of intelligent people can disagree about the origins of life. In the end, I believe in our system of local control,” DeVos said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “Local school boards should have the opportunity to offer evolution and intelligent design in their curriculums.”…
In that interview on a range of education issues DeVos said: “I would like to see the ideas of intelligent design — that many scientists are now suggesting is a very viable alternative theory — that that theory and others that would be considered credible would expose our students to more ideas, not less.”
One can only wonder on what possible basis DeVos can claim to have been misrepresented. What the Free Press quoted from him was taken directly from a statement that the DeVos campaign released to them and it is virtually word for word the same as what they cite in their email as his real, non-misrepresented position. This kind of campaign-speak doubletalk and false accusations of misrepresentation really should be brought to the public’s attention.
More importantly, the public needs to understand that what Dick DeVos is advocating could have devestating results for local school districts. By encouraging local school districts to incorporate intelligent design into their science curriculum, DeVos is inviting them into a Dover Trap. In a Federal court case last year, the Dover Area School District ended up with a legal bill in excess of $1 million dollars after going ahead with an ID policy against the advice of their own attorney. Every relevant court precedent is strongly against DeVos’ position and it is irresponsible for the state government to encourage local school districts to do what the Federal courts have already declared unconstitutional and risk their financial well being in the process.
Michigan Citizens for Science (MCFS) is a group of concerned citizens, businesspeople, parents and educators who are committed to maintaining excellence in public school science classrooms in the state of Michigan.