Return of a Bad Idea

Back in 2008 we wrote in this space about HB 1001, “The Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act” as it was filed by Representative Sally Kern (R- Oklahoma City).  That bill was itself a reintroduced edition of HB 2211, which had failed the previous year. Nothing if not persistent, Rep. Kern has refiled the act this year as HB 1551, the “Scientific Education and Academic Freedom Act”. The name and number of the bill may have changed, but the reasoning behind it is still bad.  It not only singles out specific areas of scientific study as controversial, it specifies that students may not he held accountable for embracing explanations in opposition to those derived through the scientific process.  Recognizing the folly of the original Kern bills, the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Science Teachers Association issued the following statement when HB 2211 was making it’s way through the Legislature.  The statement is no less valid this time either:

“The Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Science Teachers Association has issued the following statement concerning HB 2211, “The Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act”, by Representative Sally Kern, which is under consideration by the Legislature.“The Oklahoma Science Teachers Association (OSTA) is dedicated to the promotion and development of high quality science education for all students in Oklahoma. The development of a scientifically literate citizenry, conversant in principles and processes of science, is essential for any state or nation to be competitive in a global economy. The effort to grow 21st century industry and agriculture, including Oklahoma’s burgeoning research in nanotechnology and biotechnology, depends on the availability of a scientifically literate workforce that understands the process of posing and testing hypotheses, logically evaluating the results, and expanding our understanding of the natural world. OSTA believes the provisions of HB 2211 hold great potential for harm to the development of scientifically literate citizens in this state. Teachers will be shackled in their efforts to guide students to explore scientific data and explanation and will be forced to give full credence and course credit to viewpoints that have no scientific data or basis. The damage to the credibility of an Oklahoma high school diploma cannot be overstated. While some might posit that examination and exploration of alternative viewpoints is appropriate in a classroom, those ideas that are not scientific and cannot be tested have no place in a science classroom. Under the provisions of this bill, teachers will be required to give full forum to non-scientific viewpoints and will be prevented from explaining that such ideas have no scientific support. Provisions currently in law and expressed in the Constitution give ample protection for religious expression within schools. The Oklahoma Science Teachers Association believes the late Harvard Paleontologist Steven J. Gould’s concept of “Nonoverlapping Magisteria” accurately reflects the interaction of science and religion; both having important, but non-interacting roles in helping us make sense of our place in the physical and spiritual world. HB 2211 actively violates that concept in a direct effort to inject religious viewpoints into public school classrooms and should not be enacted.”

The text of HB 1551 follows (emphasis added)

HOUSE BILL 1551 By: Kern
AS INTRODUCED

An Act relating to schools; creating the Scientific Education and
Academic Freedom Act; providing short title; stating legislative
findings; directing State Board of Education, district boards of
education, and certain administrators to create certain environment
within schools; permitting teachers to help students understand certain
information about scientific theories; disallowing State Board of
Education, district boards of education, and certain administrators from
prohibiting teachers from helping students understand certain
information about scientific theories; providing for evaluation of
students based on understanding of course materials; prohibiting
penalizing of students for holding certain position on scientific
theories; prohibiting certain construction; directing State Department
of Education to provide certain notification; directing superintendents
to disseminate certain information; providing for codification;
providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma
Statutes as Section 11-121 of Title 70, unless there is created a
duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Scientific Education
and Academic Freedom Act”.
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma
Statutes as Section 11-122 of Title 70, unless there is created a
duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. The Oklahoma Legislature finds that an important purpose of science
education is to inform students about scientific evidence and to help
students develop critical thinking skills they need in order to become
intelligent, productive, and scientifically informed citizens. The
Legislature further finds that the teaching of some scientific subjects,
such as biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global
warming, and human cloning, can cause controversy, and that some
teachers may be unsure of the expectations concerning how they should
present information on such subjects.

B. The State Board of Education, district boards of education, district
superintendents and administrators, and public school principals and
administrators shall endeavor to create an environment within public
elementary and secondary schools that encourages students to explore
scientific questions, learn about scientific evidence, develop critical
thinking skills, and respond appropriately and respectfully to
differences of opinion about controversial issues. Educational
authorities in this state shall also endeavor to assist teachers to find
more effective ways to present the science curriculum where it addresses
scientific controversies. Toward this end, teachers shall be permitted
to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an
objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of
existing scientific theories pertinent to the course being taught.
C. The State Board of Education, a district board of education, district
superintendent or administrator, or public school principal or
administrator shall not prohibit any teacher in a school district in
this state from helping students understand, analyze, critique, and
review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific
weaknesses of existing scientific theories pertinent to the course being
taught.
D. Students may be evaluated based upon their understanding of course
materials, but no student in any public school or institution shall be
penalized in any way because the student may subscribe to a particular
position on scientific theories.

E. The provisions of the Scientific Education and Academic Freedom Act
shall only protect the teaching of scientific information, and shall not
be construed to promote any religious or nonreligious doctrine, promote
discrimination for or against a particular set of religious beliefs or
nonbeliefs, or promote discrimination for or against religion or
nonreligion. The intent of the provisions of the act is to create an
environment in which both the teacher and students can openly and
objectively discuss the facts and observations of science, and the
assumptions that underlie their interpretation.
F. By no later than the start of the 2011-2012 school year, the State
Department Education shall notify all district superintendents of the
provisions of the Scientific Education and Academic Freedom Act. Each
superintendent shall then disseminate to all employees within the
district a copy of the provisions of the act.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effective July 1, 2011.
SECTION 4. It being immediately necessary for the preservation of the
public peace, health and safety, an emergency is hereby declared to
exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and be in full force
from and after its passage and approval.

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