The new year will renew an old controversy for Cobb County schools.
Superintendent Joe Redden was expected to introduce guidelines this week for science teachers on how to tackle evolution, putting a sore subject back into public focus.
The question of what students should be taught about evolution --- according to which all life evolved gradually, over time, from common ancestors --- has bitterly divided parents.
The school board unanimously approved a new policy in September that encourages teachers to discuss evolution along with "disputed views" on the origin of man. In the spring, the board approved stickers for science texts that say evolution is a theory, not a fact, and should be critically considered.
Critics say the stickers and policy create an opening for teachers and parents to introduce faith-based arguments against evolution. Advocates say the changes will assure that teachers do not present evolution as infallible.
In writing the teaching guidelines, the administration sought the counsel of attorneys who suggested language to keep the district within legal bounds, said Don Beers, the deputy superintendent.
A draft was distributed to school board members on Dec. 27. Barring any challenges, the superintendent was expected to enact the four-paragraph statement Wednesday, said Beers, who refused to release the document before that time.
He said the regulations would help teachers interpret the policy, which includes a clarifying statement that says its purpose is to ensure a "posture of neutrality toward religion."
In a variety of evolution-related cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has enforced that separation.
In 1968, in an Arkansas case, it prohibited the banning of the teaching of evolution. In 1987, the court struck down a Louisiana mandate that "creation science" be taught alongside evolution.
Cobb has an interest in keeping the appearance of an endorsement of religion out of the classroom.
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit against the district that challenges the textbook stickers as "fundamentalist Christian expression." That lawsuit is expected to be broadened to include the 4-month-old teaching policy, said Michael Manely, a Marietta attorney who is handling the case.
In the science classrooms, the absence of guidelines from the district has encouraged a wait-and-see attitude among science teachers. Georgia standards for biology and other courses require the teaching of evolution, although it makes up a small portion of the covered material.
Larry Taylor, a father who strongly advocated for the new policy, is disappointed that parents weren't included on the superintendent's committee that formed the new guidelines. But he said if they reflect the policy, he'll be satisfied.
He recently spoke with the principal of his daughter's middle school, reminding him of the new policy and the need to include arguments against evolution in science instruction. "I expect the new policy will be adhered to," Taylor said. "My main concern is that personal biases [of teachers] don't get put into the classroom."
Debra Power, a parent on the pro-evolution side, said she's concerned that the guidelines may be as vague as the policy, essentially allowing teachers to introduce whatever alternative theory on origins they'd like to espouse. The Raelians, who recently claimed to have achieved the first successful cloning of a human, believe humans descend from space aliens, Power said.
"They need to be more explicit in what they will allow and what they will not allow," she said. "Where are they going to draw the line? My gut feeling is they're going to continue to be vague." --- Sent from UnionMail Service [http://mail.union.org.za]