Free Republic

AUSTIN — The State Board of Education gave a nearly-final nod to new science curriculum standards Thursday that would change a long-standing Texas tradition over how schoolchildren learn about evolution. The tentative vote — a final one is expected today — will mean teachers and students no longer will be expected to discuss the “strengths and weaknesses” of evolution and the theory about the origin of life developed by Charles Darwin 150 years ago. The move is a setback for critics of evolution, who argued that teachers and students should have to analyze the “strengths and weaknesses” of evolution —...

A new survey finds a majority of science professors at Texas' public and private universities are against a state policy requiring weaknesses in the theory of evolution be covered in public school science classes. The study by the progressive group Texas Freedom Network surveyed 464 university biologists and anthropologists with the help of a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. The Dallas Morning News reports 95% said schools should teach "just evolution" in covering the origins of life on earth. The rest said children should learn both evolution and the creationist theory called "intelligent design." Survey results...

BREAKING NEWS: Newt Gingrich Will NOT Run for President - Fox News Submitted by brkcmo on Sat, 09/29/2007 - 12:44pm. Tags: * Newt Gingrich UPDATE 12:46 PM ET: CNN is now headlining that Newt Gingrich has told them he is NOT running for President. Here is a link to a post just up over at Free Republic stating that a Fox News "Breaking News" spot announced that Newt Gingrich will NOT run for President, according to their sources. I cannot find a full article as yet on the subject. If true, it would be GREAT news for Fred!

ATLANTA — A suburban school board that put stickers in high school science books saying evolution is "a theory, not a fact" abandoned its legal battle to keep them Tuesday after four years. The Cobb County board agreed in federal court never to use a similar sticker or to undermine the teaching of evolution in science classes. In return, the parents who sued over the stickers agreed to drop all legal action. "We certainly think that it's a win not just for our clients but for all students in Cobb County and, really, all residents of Georgia," said Beth Littrell...

When the New York State Assembly's legislative session ended on June 23, 2006, Assembly Bill 8036 died in committee. If enacted, the bill would have required that "all pupils in grades kindergarten through twelve in all public schools in the state ... receive instruction in all aspects of the controversy surrounding evolution and the origins of man." A later provision specified that such instruction would include information about "intelligent design and information effectively challenging the theory of evolution." The bill was never expected to succeed; its sponsor, Assemblyman Daniel L. Hooker (R-District 127), was reported as explaining that his intention...

THE Republican majority in the US Senate has failed by just one vote to amend the constitution to ban desecration of the national flag. The motion was backed by 66 votes, one short of the two thirds majority need to get a constitutional amendment passed. Thirty-four senators voted against. The measure, backed by President George W. Bush, had been promoted by the Republican majority as it tries to rally its conservative base ahead of key congressional elections in November.

An examination board at the centre of a storm surrounding the teaching of creationism in UK schools has committed to re-visit its guidance to avoid the threat to science teaching that many feared, and to issue strict guidance to trainee teachers on their exam programme. The 'Gateway Science' specification had caused controversy because teachers were asked to “explain that the fossil record has been interpreted differently over time (e.g. creationist interpretation).” But now the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA (OCR) exam board has said they are “happy to commit to reviewing the wording of this part of the Gateway Science (Biology)...

South Carolina (AP) -- The state Board of Education on Wednesday rejected a state panel's proposal to change high school standards on evolution by calling on students to "critically analyze" the theory. Science teachers had complained that although critical analysis is part of all science, the wording was really a backdoor attempt to force educators to teach religious-based alternatives. In a 10-6 vote, board members agreed. The Education Oversight Committee, a school reform panel made up of lawmakers, teachers, parents and other community members, recommended the change last month. Panel member Senator Mike Fair, R-Greenville, has said it was intended...

Also today, Dover's board might revoke the controversial intelligent design decision. Now that the issue of teaching "intelligent design" in Dover schools appears to be played out, the doings of the Dover Area School Board might hold little interest for the rest of the world. But the people who happen to live in that district find them to be of great consequence. Or so board member James Cashman is finding in his final days of campaigning before Tuesday's special election, during which he will try to retain his seat on the board. Even though the issue that put the Dover...

By MARTHA RAFFAELE Associated Press Writer DOVER, Pa. (AP) -- The Dover school board on Tuesday rescinded its policy of presenting "intelligent design" as an alternative to evolution in high school biology classes, two weeks after a federal judge found the concept was religious and not scientific. There was no discussion by members of the Dover Area School Board before the voice vote Tuesday night. The policy, approved in October 2004, required that a statement be read to students about "intelligent design" before ninth-grade lessons on evolution. The statement said Darwin's theory is "not a fact" and has inexplicable "gaps."...