Devolving textbooks

There's no question about it: Evolution always proves to be a sticky subject. \nControversial stickers on high school biology textbooks in Cobb County, Ga., reminded teachers and students that "(t)his textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."\nThe stickers bend the scientific definition of "theory" and were put on the books to placate parents who were less than enthusiastic about the way their children were being taught evolution. \nMore than 2,000 parents of Cobb County high school students petitioned to have the stickers added because they felt that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution was taught as a fact. The parents believed the way evolution was taught threatened their religious views. Cobb County schools officials approved the stickers to be put inside the front covers of textbooks in 2002. \nThe school board thought that it knew better than the scientists who wrote the textbook how to explain evolution. As it happens, Darwin's theory is generally accepted among scientists, and creationist ideas have not achieved that status. Parents are welcome to teach their children anything they choose at home. However, all students in a high school biology class should not be confused about the definition of a scientific theory. \nThe evolution theory fits the working definition of a scientific theory, supported by evidence, but the school district did not include on the stickers other theories that are generally accepted, like cell theory and the theory of relativity. The use of the word "theory" in the evolution stickers is not used scientifically. \nIn science, a theory is a model proposed to explain scientific observations and make testable conjectures. This argument, made by the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, raises a valid point. It reveals the problem with the language used in the wording of the stickers: The stickers endorse a religious attitude toward evolution. \nThe school board, in a press release this week, said it was proud of the county's curriculum and that the material met state and national standards. Why, then, did the board think the material needed three sentences of clarification? The board had to know that the stickers would embroil the county and its schools in a storm of controversy. The stickers just don't make sense.\nAs a public institution in the United States, the board should put its support firmly behind secular curriculum. The judge made the right decision to order the removal of the stickers because the stickers only cause confusion. Those three sentences inside the biology textbooks don't enhance students' understanding of science, but serve to promote a particular religious view of life. \nThis week the school board voted 5-2 to appeal the decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The lawsuits and controversy are of the school board's own making. The responsibility to put the focus in Cobb County back on education lies on the board's \nshoulders.