Almost four years ago, Texas scored a great victory against the creationist conmen at the Discovery [sic] Institute and their local shills when the State Board of Education voted by a decisive majority to reject attempts to force biology textbooks used in Texas schools to misrepresent the state of knowledge about evolution by natural selection.
I'm sad to report, alas, that the pathetic Texas Governor Rick Perry has appointed one of the dissenters of four years ago, Don McLeroy, a dentist, as Chair of the State Board of Education. Dr. McLeroy's record on matters of science education is not a good one. Moreover, there is now a real chance, given the changed composition of the Board since 2003, that Texas may humiliate itself as Kansas did. (It does not help that Governor Perry's spokeswoman defended the appointment--I heard this on local public radio--by saying, "The Governor has long believed that if evolution is taught in the schools, creationism should be taught as well." The conmen at the Discovery [sic] Institute at least understand that that approach won't fly constitutionally any longer.)
I hope Dr. McLeroy will remember something I said to him in my office in the fall of 2003 during our very pleasant conversation after the last battle. I said, "Wouldn't you find it odd if an organized group of non-dentists got together to promulgate standards for how you should practice dentistry?" This seemed to give him real pause, and he acknowledged that essentially all scientists are on the other side of the issue about Intelligent Design.
I hope the moral of our exchange is not lost on him in his new role as head of the State Board of Education.
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