(Ed. note: This analysis is reprinted from the Oklahomans For Excellence in Science Education listserve. The OESE website is linked in the menu to the left. On the OESE website you can subscribe to their listserv as well as join this organization of scientists, educators, religious leaders, and laypersons who are working to preserve the integrity of science and promote quality science education in this state.
Other ‘carry over’ bills from the last session that may come again are HB 1001 (‘Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act’ (Reps. Reynolds and Kern). Although vetoed earlier by Governor Henry, it keeps coming up. It passed the House Education Committee last year 9-7, but the leadership did not place it for a house vote.
SB 554 (Brecheen) also did not get heard last session. It is a bill modeled on the creationist teaching standards attempted in Texas. SB 1742 may be Brecheen’s attempt at a replacement.
HB 1551 (Kern) was not heard last session, but is still on the list and could come up again. It is another so-called ‘academic freedom act’ that has been filed over 40 times in 12 states (five times in OK) and has passed only in Louisiana).
WHY SB 1742 WOULD BE HARMFUL TO OKLAHOMA
SB 1742 is copied (as stated in the bill) from a Louisiana law that has caused many problems:
(1) The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology canceled their planned convention in New Orleans and moved it to Salt Lake City when the bill became law in LA. Other societies are discussing doing the same.
(2) In efforts to repeal the law the New Orleans City Council voted unanimously for repeal.
(3) As of 8 February 2012, 74 Nobel Laureates have written letters calling for repeal
SB 1742 Is Another Attempt to Introduce Religion Into Science Classrooms
Although a seemingly innocuous term, “strengths and weaknesses” has been co-opted for decades by groups promoting the teaching of religion in the classroom. It is just one of many euphemisms, such as “teach the controversy,” “full range of scientific views,” “critical thinking,” and “evidence for and against,” used to undermine students’ learning about evolution and Implying that there is a scientific controversy around evolution, as this bill does, is just plain false.
Evolution “is the only tested, comprehensive scientific explanation for the nature of the biological world today that is supported by overwhelming evidence and widely accepted in the scientific community.” Thus, arguments those students should learn about “fundamental weaknesses in the science of evolution are unwarranted based on the overwhelming evidence that supports the theory”and will only harm students’ education. Science education policies, like SB 1742, which perpetuate the teaching of non-science with deceptive phrases like “scientific critique of the theory of evolution,” allow creationists to continue to make non-scientific attacks against evolution.
Religion Should Be Taught By the Family, Not In Science Classrooms
Science is “limited to the search for natural causes to explain natural phenomena.” The goals of science are narrow: Science cannot provide “‘ultimate’ explanations for the existence or characteristics of the natural world . . . [and it] does not consider issues of ‘meaning’ and ‘purpose’ in the world.”5 Rather, many people seek these important answers in religion.
Only families get to decide what religious beliefs they will teach to their children. And for many, disparaging evolution in order to promote creationism conflicts with their beliefs. Therefore, because “[f]amilies entrust public schools with the education of their children, but condition their trust on the understanding that the classroom will not purposely be used to advance religious views that may conflict with the private beliefs of the student and his or her family,” courts are “particularly vigilant in monitoring” whether religious beliefs are taught in public schools.
The Result of this Bill Will Be Costly Litigation
SB 1742 mischaracterizes the current status of legal challenges to the Louisiana law, upon which this bill is modeled. It is true that the Louisiana law has not yet been invalidated – but that is only because there has not been a facial challenge to the law. The Louisiana law – like SB 1742 – invites discussion of religious beliefs in the science classroom. The creationist strategy in this bill is an attempt to skirt the U.S. Constitution and federal court rulings prohibiting the teaching of creationism in public schools. The federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have consistently and repeatedly held that creationism in all its variations cannot be taught in public schools.7 Thus, when there is a challenge, either to the law itself or to its implementation, it will invariably be struck down after costly litigation.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO STOP THIS BILL:
SB 1742 titled the ‘Oklahoma Science Education Act’ by the author, Sen. Brecheen has already been assigned to the Senate Education Committee and then to the Education Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Here are the addresses and phone numbers of the subcommittee:
Sen. Jim Halligan (Chair)(R) haligan@oksenate.gov 405-521-5572
Sen. John Ford (R) fordj@oksenate.gov 405-521-5634
Sen. Cliff Aldridge (R) aldridge@oksenate.gov 405-521-5584
Sen. Rick Brinkley (R) Brinkley@oksenate.gov 405-521-5586
Sen. Judy Eason McIntyre (D)easonmcintyre@oksenate.gov 405-521-5598
Sen. Earl Garrison (D) whitep@oksenate.gov 405-521-5533
Sen. Mike Mazzei (R) mazzei@oksenate.gov 405-521-5675
Sen. Susan Paddack (D) paddock@oksenate.gov 405-521-5541
Sen. Frank Simpson (R) simpson@oksenate.gov 405-531-5607
Sen. John Sparks (D) sparks@oksenate.gov 405-531-5553
Sen. Gary Stanislawski stanisilawski@oksenate.gov 405-521-5624