Ghosts of SBOEs Past

By Frank Knaack Associate Director for Policy and Advocacy Here we go again… Next week the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) will consider the adoption of supplemental science materials for Texas’ public schools.  You may wonder why this is a problem.  Well, in 2009 some members of the SBOE succeeded in injecting creationist/intelligent design arguments into the science standards, and the materials being considered now were developed for these flawed standards.  The separation of church and state is a cornerstone of our constitutional system, but that has not stopped some SBOE members from ignoring recognized experts and injecting their ideological beliefs into public school classrooms across the state.   Apparently, going against the constitution is not enough to stop this abuse of power at the expense of Texas’ children.  But, maybe the financial costs of approving unconstitutional materials will sway them.  The case below shows just how expensive it can get. In 2004, the Dover Pennsylvania school board amended its biology curriculum to state that “[s]tudents will be made aware of gaps/problems in Darwin’s theory and of other theories of evolution including, but not limited to, intelligent design” (similar to the amendments added by the SBOE in 2009).  As could be expected, parents were outraged and they challenged the board’s decision in court (with the help of the ACLU of Pennsylvania).  In 2005, a George W. Bush appointed federal judge ruled in favor of the outraged parents. Judge John Jones ruled that “it is unconstitutional to teach ID [intelligent design] as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom.”  Because of its unconstitutional action, the Dover school district had to pay over $1,000,000 in legal fees (and that was after the parents’ attorneys agreed to waive their fees that would have cost the district an additional million dollars).  There is a lesson here.  How can SBOE members invite such litigation against already-strapped school districts just so they can achieve their personal ideological goals?  (Don’t forget that the Texas Legislature just passed a new budget with record cuts for public school education.) Unfortunately, the double whammy of approving unconstitutional materials and incurring massive legal costs and has not deterred some SBOE members from their quest to have the government dictate religious beliefs to Texas children.   As the Texas Freedom Network pointed out, the newly appointed SBOE Chairwoman Barbara Cargill is determined to inject her personal ideological beliefs into the science materials next week.  This is not good news for Texas. While we hope that the SBOE will do the right thing and follow the law, if history is any predictor, we have our doubts.  That is why we need your help.  Please contact your SBOE member and demand that the SBOE remove personal ideology from the curriculum and textbook review processes and instead follow the advice of biologists and other relevant experts.  Texas’ children deserve nothing less.