LOUISIANA'S LATEST CREATIONISM BILL MOVES TO HOUSE FLOOR

Senate Bill 733, the so-called Louisiana Science Education Act, was
unanimously passed by the Louisiana House Education Committee on May
21,
2008, and now proceeds to the House of Representatives. The bill
specifically identifies evolution, as well as the origins of life,
global
warming, and human cloning, as topics in need of "open and objective
discussion," and accordingly encourages teachers in Louisiana's public
schools to "use supplemental textbooks and other instructional
materials to
help students understand, analyze, critique, and review scientific
theories
in an objective manner."

The Associated Press (May 21, 2008) reported that, over the course of a
hearing that lasted close to three hours, "Science teachers called
Senate
Bill 733 a veiled attempt to add religion to science classes." In the
House hearing, critics pointed out that the bill's stated goals are
already
covered by policies set by the state's Board of Elementary and
Secondary
Education. The Baton Rouge Advocate (May 21, 2008) reported that Tammy
Wood, a science teacher from the Zachary, Louisiana, school district,
told
the committee, "There is absolutely no need for this bill," adding, "I
am
begging you here today to kill this bill."

While bill sponsor Senator Ben Nevers (D-District 12) told the
Associated
Press that "I plainly state in this bill that no religion will be
taught,"
he previously told the Hammond Daily Star (April 6, 2008) that the bill
was
drafted by a group which "believe[s] that scientific data related to
creationism should be discussed." Similarly, bill supporter David
Tate, a
member of the Livingston Parish School Board, told the New Orleans
Times-Picayune (April 18, 2008), "I believe that both sides -- the
creationism side and the evolution side -- should be presented and let
students decide what they believe," adding that the bill is needed
because
"teachers are scared to talk about" creationism.

Opponents cited such statements to argue that SB 733 would open
classroom
doors to creationism. House Education Committee Chairman Don Trahan
(R-Lafayette) responded by amending the bill to give the state Board of
Elementary and Secondary Education the ability to prohibit introduction
of
materials, according to the Associated Press, but Barbara Forrest, a
professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University, testified
that even the amended version was too permissive: "Anything could get
into
the classroom," the Associated Press quoted her as saying.

Describing SB 733 as "religious proselytizing masquerading as education
policy," the editorial board of the Baton Rouge Advocate (May 21, 2008)
worried about the prospect of expensive litigation following in its
wake,
suggesting that the bill, if enacted, will "provide a full-time living
for
dozens of lawyers in the American Civil Liberties Union. They will
have a
field day suing taxpayer-funded schools as groups use Nevers' language
to
push Bible-based texts in the schools. That's unconstitutional, and we
can
see the taxpayer paying -- and paying, and paying -- for this policy in
the
future."

In his op-ed for the Shreveport Times (May 28, 2008), Alan I. Leshner,
the
chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement
of
Science, emphasized the danger that the bill poses to the state's
economy: "If it becomes law, the bill would unleash an assault against
scientific integrity, leaving students confused about the fundamental
nature of science and unprepared to excel in a work force that
increasingly
requires science-related skills." He added, "If the Louisiana bill
becomes
law, we are confident it would be overturned in court. But the fight
would
be an expensive, divisive distraction."