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On March 27, 2009, the Texas Board of Education enacted a new set of rules for science education in the state.  According to this Associated Press article, Texas is adopting a new science curriculum whereby teachers are no longer required “to teach the weaknesses of all scientific theories.”  Basically, this offers teachers the option to tell their students to look at “all sides” of a scientific theory.  Obviously, many different media outlets and pundits argue this is just the latest “win” for the Creationist agenda.  Now, Texas teachers will be able to teach Intelligent Design along side Evolution and “let the students decide” which one to believe in.

Here’s the problem with that logic: There is no logic.  Teachers in public schools are hired to teach a curriculum based on facts.  Where do the facts about Intelligent Design come from?  Most people would say The Bible.  Well, if that’s the case, then isn’t teaching Intelligent Design in a public school illegal?  Doesn’t it fall under separation of church and state?  Now with that said, even if they were legally allowed to teach Intelligent Design, why would you let students decide which theory they believe in.  Do the students know enough once the two theories are first taught to them to even make a choice? Would not religion, or lack of religion, in their personal lives influence them one way or another?

The fact of the matter is that Intelligent Design does not have a place in a public school setting.  Let Sunday School teach Intelligent Design to children who attend.  Let Biology teachers in public school teach Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.  Yes, the theories will conflict in the students mind.  But at that point, you’re not making those students decide which theory they want to know as truth.  You’re only presenting the information in a teaching environment for them to process and take a test on.

Unfortunately for the Creationists out there, allowing children to be taught Evolution will most likely cause them to accept it as their truth.  Why? Because it makes sense from every standpoint Intelligent Design advocates can attempt to argue on.  How old is the earth? Are we descended from monkeys?  Did Jesus ride a Dino Horse? From my standpoint Intelligent Design is another way for religious folks to hang on to the few followers they still have left.  Except like I said earlier, trying to impose religious views on state-funded endeavours like public education is illegal.  If a parent wants their child to learn about Creationism as the primary viewpoint of why humans exist, then perhaps they should pay for their children to go to a private religious school.

Reform

The Texas debacle over Intelligent Design in the public school classroom is just the latest mud thrown in the face of the public education system in the United States.  President Barack Obama has outlined a broad plan to changing the way education works in this country.  He’s spoke at length about the kinds of reforms that are needed to provide the next generation of Americans with the proper education they will require to be competitive in a world market.  There’s a reason American workers are being outsourced overseas, or companies are hiring foreign H1B workers.  The talent no longer exists in the United States for the price companies are willing to pay for it.  American workers are either too expensive or not trained well enough.

Reform has to start at the bottom, and work its way up.  It starts when a child is old enough to understand words.  It starts with the parents.  Formal education starts in the United States when a child is 4 years old.  At this point the child has learned a lot of words and concepts from their parents and daycare professionals.  It is my opinion that a child’s education has already formally started, with the parents providing support before the required “schooling” years of six to eighteen.

Primary and Secondary education are compulsory for children under the age of 18 in the United States.  That is, all children must attend school until they are 18 and legally an adult.  Here’s where will start to really matter on a massive scale.  Currently school curricula are formed by local school districts.  As of 2002, 15,000 individual government-backed school districts existed in the United States.  That’s 15,000 different concepts on a what a child should learn.  While most local school districts follow state standards with minimal modification, the ability to modify a standard still exists.  So what do we do?  Take away the privilege for state and local departments of education to make their own curriculum guidelines?  Yes, if the local or state fails to keep up with national standards.

Now, on national standards.  President Obama wants to start here with national education reform, including changing the way No Child Left Behind works and changing the way teachers are judged, conpensated, and rewarded.  Unfortunately teaching teachers happens to also be impacted by a bad education system.  The bad apples, no teacher pun intended, need to evaluated on a strict basis.  You wouldn’t want your children taught by some of these teachers.  Teachers need to be found competent enough to teach the subject matter they are given.  So while a national standard needs to be established for what a teacher should be teaching, a national standard needs to be established for the teachers who are supposed to be teaching this material.

At the end of the day, any changes made to the education system will take 20 years to fully materialize.  Can the United States afford to continally be 20 years behind everyone else?  In a continuing series on this subject, I will go more in depth on topics such as what elementary schools are teaching our children, and compare them against what other countries are teaching their kids.  This article has only touched the surface on what needs to be done in America in terms of reforming the education our children are receiving.  Please check back often for updates or subscribe to this website’s RSS Feed.