[StJacques]

Stultis, I think your post #261 deals with how this debate would be handled in a science class. Am I right? I do not want it within a science class under any circumstances.

Now as to the larger question, "can we trust high school teachers handling a course in 'Critical Thinking' to present the debate fairly?" Well even I will admit there would be problems with that, but the alternative is to give students no training in critical thinking at all and I at least think that a good textbook would moderate errors on the part of teachers. That is one of the reasons we use textbooks by the way.

I will also point out that both the SAT and ACT college entrance exams have been reworked over the past few years to place a greater emphasis upon the development of skills in critical thinking.

[Stultis]

the alternative is to give students no training in critical thinking at all

I'd say the alternative is to find a subject which will be interesting to students, but with regard to which you don't have an appreciable percentage of teachers who will have an ax to grind or an ox to gore. That shouldn't be hard. There are plenty of controversies within the history of science that would be highly engaging (upon resurrecting the richness of their forgotten details) but which won't evoke particularistic passions.