ID Sticker Settlement In Cobb County

AU's Lynn Commends Cobb County School Board For Supporting Sound Science Education

Americans United for Separation of Church and State today lauded a Georgia public school board's decision to drop its defense of anti-evolution disclaimers for science textbooks.

The Cobb County School Board has agreed to settle the long-running legal fracas over its 2002 decision to place anti-evolution stickers in high school biology textbooks.

In an agreement announced today, Cobb County school officials state that they will not order the placement of "any stickers, labels, stamps, inscriptions, or other warnings or disclaimers bearing language substantially similar to that used on the sticker that is the subject of this action." School officials also agreed not to take other actions that would undermine the teaching of evolution in biology classes.

"Cobb County school officials have taken the right step to ensure that their students receive a quality education," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "Students should be taught sound science, and the curriculum should not be altered at the behest of aggressive religious groups."

After the Cobb County School Board passed the sticker policy, school district parents, represented by attorney Michael Manely and the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, sued arguing that the policy promoted religion in science classrooms and therefore violated the separation of church and state. In early 2005, U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper agreed and ordered the school district to remove the stickers from its 35,000 biology textbooks.

The textbook disclaimer declares that evolution is a controversial scientific theory.

Since federal courts have ruled that creationism is religion and cannot be taught in public school science courses, Religious Right groups have sought ways to undermine the teaching of evolution and sneak discussion of religious beliefs on the origins of life into public school science courses. Textbook disclaimers on evolution, are one such tactic.

School officials removed the stickers, but asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse Judge Cooper's Selman v. Cobb County School District decision. In late spring, the appellate panel sent the case back to Cooper requesting more information about the situation.

Americans United, Bondurant, Mixon & Elmore, an Atlanta law firm, and Pepper Hamilton, a Philadelphia law firm, joined the ACLU of Georgia in handling the case on remand.

Jeffrey Selman, the Cobb County parent who led the charge against the anti-evolution disclaimer and president of the Georgia chapter of Americans United, said the settlement puts to rest a contentious struggle over religious and political agendas.

"The settlement brings to an end a long battle to keep our science classes free of political or religious agendas," Selman said. "I am very pleased that the Cobb school board has dropped its defense of the anti-evolution policy. The board should be commended for taking this action."

Richard Katskee, assistant legal director of Americans United, and Eric Rothschild of Pepper Hamilton were among the attorneys who successfully argued against a Pennsylvania public school district's policy of promoting "intelligent design" in science courses. In 2005, a federal judge ruled that intelligent design is not science and that the Dover Area School Board's policy violated the First Amendment principle of church-state separation.

Some of the experts who were instrumental in persuading the federal court to invalidate the intelligent-design policy also joined the effort to persuade Cobb County school officials to abandon their defense of the anti-evolution stickers. Those experts include Kenneth Miller, a biology professor at Brown University, Brian Alters, a professor of science education at McGill University, and Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education.

Americans United's Katskee applauded the Cobb County School Board's decision to settle the legal dispute.

"The school district can now place its focus squarely on providing a sound education to Cobb County students," he said.

Katskee added that Cobb County officials showed "great courage" in deciding to end the ongoing and often contentious battle, which has attracted national attention.

"Cobb County students can be thankful that their school board is working in their interests," he said. "The board has chosen an admirable course of action by dropping its defense of the evolution disclaimer."

Rothschild said he is pleased the Cobb County School Board chose not "to continue waging a prolonged court battle over an attack on evolution."

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.


:p

I see...

[Ibby]

Well what're we s'posta say?

[Pangloss62]

Thanks for noticing that story, Ibram.

There were actually two small victories for rationality here in Georgia this past week. First, that crazy lady who wanted Harry Potter books removed from her kids' public school library was shot down by the State Board of Education. She could appeal to the Gwinnett Superior Court. I say "Please crazy lady, go away. You've embar
rassed us enough."


She actually looks kinda normal, in a Atlanta McMansion housewife kinda way.

Victory number two was the one you noted when those crazy school officials settled a lawsuit about those evolution warning stickers. Many parents in Cobb were "offended" by the material on evolution in the textbooks, and were pissed off at the terrorists:

"It's terrorist organizations like the ACLU
that are hijacking our country's educational
system by imposing their own secular agenda
on the rest of us."



In the end, there will be no stickers; but there will always be fucktard parents. I'm sure many Cobb taxpayers are a bit pissed, however. Not only did the case cost a bunch, removing the stickers took a lot of time and cost a bunch too.

Merry Christmas

It is insane... by their rationality science should also be taught in church.

If they want it in textbooks, ID should just go through the normal scientific review all other "hypothosis" go through. No other theories get voted on before getting into schools, why special consiteration for this one?
JUST loony.

[Pangloss62]

It's hard to tell who is more looney.

That anti-Harry Potter woman must be completely illiterate; has she not ever been exposed to Grimm's Fairy Tales, or....THE BIBLE!!! WTF!!!

Ironically, through their behavior, maybe these nut-jobs are disproving evolution.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Possibly the effect of in-breeding on evolution.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Pangloss62

She actually looks kinda normal, in a Atlanta McMansion housewife kinda way.

She appears to be wearing green. And as everyone knows, green is the Devil's favourite colour!

Rowling makes use of vivid colors in her story line. Some of these colors are consistent with the colors preferred by Satan and his followers in the Occult. Rowling's use of such vivid colors also enables her to paint the Fantasy Reality of Witchcraft as THE most exciting place to live. Wizard of Oz uses the same technique: when Dorothy is in her real world in Kansas, the color is black and white, but when she steps into her Fantasy Reality, the scene explodes in the most wonderful color.

A. Green -- is Satan's favorite color. Thus, we see that the one fraternity house totally given over to the Black Arts, Slytherin, has adopted green as its color. We see other uses of green in the story line

snipped for reasons of sanity...

What I don't understand is, if they don't like secularism, why don't they send their kids to a Christian school?
Makes no sense, are they stupid?

[bluecuracao]

Because they want to tell everyone what to do. If they don't get to do that, their lives will be so boring that they'll have to think of other ways to keep themselves occupied.

[Aliantha]

Not everything discussed in a science class is a proven theory, just as every idea discussed in any other class is not necessarily fact.

Getting an education is also about teaching kids how to think outside the box and guide them towards learning how to learn more.

I think it's crazy to try and stop either ID theory or God and religion being discussed.

It is science class... if something is going to be discussed it needs to, at least, be based on science.

[Aliantha]

Everything in science which is now a proven fact (within the laws we currently acknowledge) was once considered a wacky idea.

Imagine where you'd be if columbus had believed the world really was flat!

[Aliantha]

As I said though, education is about teaching kids how to learn, not just giving expository lessons. Discuss the idea, but that's very far from teaching the theory as a fact. It could even be used to show the difference between a theory and a fact. If it were against the law to discuss it though, this would not be possible.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by rkzenrage

What I don't understand is, if they don't like secularism, why don't they send their kids to a Christian school?

At least one consideration for some is that Christian schools cost money, and secular (public) schools don't.