Procedure crafted for handling evolution-materials complaints
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The state’s top school board Wednesday approved procedures for residents who object to materials that challenge the teaching of evolution in public school science classes.
The rules, which were praised by evolution critics, stem from a law approved last year by the Legislature.
Backers say the law is needed to give science teachers more freedom to challenge traditional theories, including Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
Critics contend the measure, called the Louisiana Science Education Act, is aimed at injecting religious themes into public schools.
The statute allows science teachers to use supplemental materials, in addition to state-issued textbooks, to teach evolution and other topics.
“What’s left hanging are the procedures when a complaint is raised,” said Scott Norton, assistant state superintendent for student and school performance.
The department recommended that any complaints undergo an initial review by a three-member panel named by the agency, then go to the state board for a final decision.
But Dale Bayard, of Sulphur, chairman of the committee that tackled the issue, changed that and the committee went along.
Under Bayard’s change, two reviewers will be named by the department to review the science materials in question as well as one reviewer each named by the challenger, the school and the publisher.
The five-member panel will determine whether the materials:
- Promote any religious doctrine, which is banned by the state law.
- Are scientifically sound.
- Are appropriate for the grade.
Bayard’s committee approved the complaint process without arguments.
Since other board members were there too, committee approval on Wednesday is tantamount to endorsement by the full state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, which is expected today.
Gene Mills, president of the Louisiana Family Forum Action, praised the rules and said Bayard’s plan was better than the department’s recommendation.
“Arguably this is the closest thing that would mimic due process,” Mills said in a telephone interview after the meeting. “That seems equitable to me.”
The Louisiana Family Forum, a key backer of the law, says it promotes traditional values.
No one criticized the proposed process for handling complaints.
Barbara Forrest of Holden, a professor and co-founder of the LA Coalition for Science, said in a telephone interview after the meeting that she was not aware that a committee of the state board was discussing the issue on Wednesday.
Forrest, who has criticized the law, called Bayard a point man for the Louisiana Family Forum.
Earlier this year, the state board approved policies that govern the law.
One says that materials used in science classrooms “shall not promote any religious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against a particular set of religious beliefs or promote discrimination for or against religion or non-religion.”
Under the rules approved Wednesday, people bothered by materials in a science classroom could file a complaint with the state Department of Education.
A hearing would then be set where each side could tell its story. Reviewers, who are supposed to be experts, can ask questions.
The five reviewers would file reports on whether the materials violate the rules. The department can also make a recommendation.
The state board would then make a final decision.
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