opinion

Bangert: Evolution, science back in bill's cross hairs

Sen. Jeff Raatz says he doesn't have a problem if teachers who don't see eye to eye with the science curriculum in their classrooms decide to turn the tables on what he considers any sort of "science with controversy."

The ethics of human cloning. Climate change. Evolution.

In fact, the Centerville Republican said, those teachers should have the right to discuss and teach competing theories, while being defended against reprisal from the state or their districts.

Call it a back-door approach to failed attempts to chip away at state standards on teaching evolution and to bring creationism into the public school classroom, if you want, Raatz said. The bulk of the science world probably will, he figured. He considers it a call to action on critical thinking.

"As long as they do it respectfully," Raatz asked Tuesday, "why should we be afraid of that?"

This week, Raatz and Sen. Dennis Kruse — who has made a cottage industry out of taking swipes at evolution being taught in Indiana classrooms — filed a bill crafted from model legislation built by one of the leading anti-evolution think tanks in the United States.

Senate Bill 562 wouldn't demand that alternatives to evolution or climate change be taught. But it would protect a teacher who explored elements that are, as Raatz puts it, "open to debate" and not necessarily approved in the science curriculum.

To which the science community shook its head.

"Here they go again," groaned Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, an Oakland-based group.

"Sen. Kruse said he'd be back, and he wasn't lying," Branch said. "I suppose that I have to admit to a degree of exasperation."

The bill does fulfill a promise Kruse made two years ago.

In 2012, Kruse carried a bill that would have given local school boards the option to "require the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life, including creation science."

The problem: Courts have been consistent in rulings that say teaching creation science and intelligent design runs counter to the First Amendment's establishment clause, amounting to advocating a particular religious view in the guise of hard science. Kruse's 2012 bill ultimately was watered down — it cleared the Senate as a measure that gave schools permission to create non-science elective courses that looked at the origin of life — and then was trashed by the Indiana House.

As the next General Assembly session approached in 2013, Kruse said he was working on a new approach with legislation developed with the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based public policy think tank and leading proponent of teaching science through the lens of intelligent design.

The idea was to leave science open to a debate over "strengths and weaknesses" of the idea, not simply scientific testing and experimentation.

But that approach never materialized. Until this week.

The Discovery Institute's website includes this preamble to what the think tank calls the "Academic Freedom Act":

"In many states teachers, students and even college professors have faced intimidation and retaliation when they attempt to discuss scientific criticisms pertaining to evolution. This assault on academic freedom is antithetical to our traditions as a free society. … It is entirely appropriate for the government to ensure that teachers and students have the right to freely discuss the scientific debates over evolution in an appropriate manner."

Senate Bill 562 is similar to laws in Tennessee and Louisiana, and to a bill filed last week in the Missouri legislature. (When the measure was approved in 2012 in Tennessee, it was dubbed "The Monkey Bill" — a reference to the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, which revolved around a teacher in Tennessee who taught evolution against the laws of the day. The measure became law without the signature of Gov. Bill Haslam.)

But Senate Bill 562 doesn't specifically mention evolution. Instead it covers "some scientific subjects, such as, but not limited to, human cloning, (that) may produce differing conclusions and theories." But Raatz said he would open the door to any controversial science topic — whether it includes intelligent design or anything else.

The bill includes a caveat that it pertains only to the teaching of scientific information and "may not be construed to promote any religious or nonreligious doctrine."

"Could it be seen as an anti-evolution bill? Could be," Raatz said. "That doesn't bother me at all. Essentially, we're saying there are competing theories and we should allow the discussion in the classroom. Not to promote anything or one over another. But that we should have the ability to discuss."

That's a sneaky way to disguise the real intent, says Branch.

"Bills like these are basically designed to free the hands of those few teachers who have funny ideas — funny ideas about evolution, such as creationism; funny ideas about climate change and climate change denial," Branch said. "So if you look at the bill, it basically says is that when it comes to socially controversial issues like these, teachers can teach them as though they're scientifically controversial. They can misrepresent the state of the scientific consensus on the issues. … So to the small, bad handful of science teachers, it's a get out of jail free card."

As for the rest of the science teachers, Branch said, the bill adds another layer of stress.

"I also think it will provide creationists in the community a lever to exert pressure on teachers," Branch said. "They can say, 'Look, you're free to do this. Why aren't you doing it?' So if the bill is enacted, I think teachers who ordinarily wouldn't even consider it, because they know better, might feel themselves being pushed by community pressures to do so."

Raatz said that, too, is open to debate. He said he expects Senate Bill 562 will land in the Senate Education and Career Development Committee. Raatz is a member of the committee. Kruse is the committee chairman. No hearings had been set as of Tuesday.

Branch said Indiana science teachers will be ready to rally if and when the bill comes up for a hearing.

"You have to ask," Branch said, "how many more times is Indiana going to go through this?"

Bangert is a columnist with the Journal & Courier. Contact him at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert

Track the bill

To follow progress of the bill, go to iga.in.gov/legislative/2015/ bills and scroll down to Senate Bill 562.