Chris Comer, creationism, and the Texas Board of Education

After 27 years as a science teacher and 9 years as the Texas Education Agency's director of science, Christine Castillo Comer said she did not think she had to remain “neutral” about teaching the theory of evolution.

“It's not just a good idea; it's the law,” said Ms. Comer, citing the state's science curriculum.

But now Ms. Comer, 56, of Austin, is out of a job, after forwarding an e-mail message on a talk about evolution and creationism – “a subject on which the agency must remain neutral,” according to a dismissal letter last month that accused her of various instances of “misconduct and insubordination” and of siding against creationism and the doctrine that life is the product of “intelligent design.” (Official Leaves Post as Texas Prepares to Debate Science Education Standards, by Ralph Blumenthal, The New York Times, 2 December 2007)

Why do I bring this up now, almost three weeks after the fact? Ed Darrell at Millard Fillmore's Bathtub¹ points out that Don McLeroy, Chair of the Texas State Board of Education, has a letter in Friday's Dallas Morning News clarifying his stance on the teaching of evolution in Texas schools.

In August he said “Creationism and intelligent design don't belong in our science classes,”² while suggesting that textbooks should cover weaknesses in the theory of evolution. Now he writes:

My focus is on the empirical evidence and the scientific interpretations of that evidence. In science class, there is no place for dogma and “sacred cows;” no subject should be “untouchable” as to its scientific merits or shortcomings. My motivation is good science and a well-trained, scientifically literate student.

Fair enough – if McLeroy means it. The overwhelming body of scientific evidence depends on and supports evolutionary theory, including virtually all of 20^th and 21^st century biology and all of geology and geophysics. No one has produced evidence inconsistent with the idea that all living things are descended from a single common ancestor. That's what “a well-trained, scientifically literate student” will learn. That's what a “focus on the empirical evidence and the scientific interpretations of that evidence” will provide.

If McLeroy means what he says, the Texas Board of Education will adopt standards that require Texas students to develop a deep understanding of the empirical evidence for evolution. Pardon me if I share Ed Darrell's skepticism that that's what McLeroy means.

¹Link via Pharyngula.

²State board members oppose teaching intelligent design in schools, by Associated Press, Dallas Morning News, 24 August 2007