California School District Sued for Violating Civil Rights in Evolution Controversy

Discovery Institute News ^ | 1/17/05 | Staff

[Michael_Michaelangelo]

SACRAMENTO, JAN. 17 – A California school district has been sued in federal court for violating a parent's civil rights during a controversy over how to teach evolution.

For more than a year, Larry Caldwell tried to get the Roseville Joint Union High School District outside of Sacramento to consider changing how it taught the theory of evolution in its biology classes. Caldwell, who has three children, says he wanted the district to correct factual errors in its biology textbooks as well as to introduce students to some scientific criticisms of modern evolutionary theory. Caldwell did not propose that the district teach creationism or alternatives to evolution.

The Roseville district ultimately rejected Caldwell's recommendations. But in the process of trying to scuttle his proposals, Caldwell alleges that the district repeatedly denied him rights and procedures normally afforded to other citizens in the district, banned parents from speaking in favor of his proposals at a public meeting, publicly attacked his personal religious beliefs, spread false rumors about him, and even threatened to sue him and other parents if they continued to speak out.

"These are tactics you'd expect in a banana republic, not the state of California," said Caldwell.

"Mr. Caldwell's complaint describes a school district that appears to have been out-of-control," said Dr. John West, Associate Director of Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. "Caldwell's proposals deserved to be accepted or rejected on their merits. The school district's apparent disregard for Mr. Caldwell's civil and constitutional rights is deeply troubling."

[Michael_Michaelangelo]

Things are heating up!

[munchtipq]

Hard to judge without seeing exactly what he's objecting to.

[narby]

Yeah. Pretty soon there will be as many lawyers making money from fools that think the earth was made in 6000 years as there are fools that think the earth is heating up.

Those lawyers have to make a buck selling some kind of snake oil to someone.

[bahblahbah]

There's no need to teach other theories. Just state that other theories exist and be done with it. And don't start teaching it till high school.

[glorgau]

"These are tactics you'd expect in a banana republic, not the state of California," said Caldwell.

Unhhh no, it is the normal state of affairs. I'd expect that they would soon have him committed for "psychological" reasons.

[munchtipq]

Even The Onion had a bit on it this week:

Last week, a U.S. district judge ordered a Georgia school district to remove stickers reading, "Evolution is a theory, not a fact" from its textbooks. What do you think?

"The thing is, they're right. Evolution is nothing more than a well-supported, predictive, scientifically rigorous theory."
Jered Garza
Driver

"If you don't believe in creationism, then how do you explain the fact that I do, smart guy?"
Carlton Fuller
Teacher

"Good. Now could New York please take the sticker off my literature textbook that says Surrealism is just a school of thought often in conflict with Abstractism?"
Melanie Burton
Systems Analyst

"Maybe now a judge will press Georgia schools to remove the 'Mr. Yuk' stickers from books by black authors."
Susan McKinney
Painter

"Man, I gotta get one of those stickers for my guitar case. That'd be awesome."
Danny Hale
Plumber

"I hope they replaced the old stickers with new ones that read, 'Do not burn.'"
Brad Dawson
Novelist

Maybe not everyone's sense of humor, but I love The Onion. And I hope I don't get in trouble for copyright infringement or something silly like that.

[Rippin]

Read the article dumb#**. The plaintiff specifically is stated to have NOT asked that other theories be taught. He is objecting to the HOW not the what. Evolution e-poligists are really doing us interested observers a favor though. Keep it up.

[Michael_Michaelangelo]

Don't confuse him with the facts; he's too busy defending his dogma.

[kpp_kpp]

Oh come on. 6009... haven't you read Ussher?

:)

[Michael_Michaelangelo]

Ping

[EricT.]

Oh great, another thread for the Darwinists to show their asses on.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[calex59]

Yeah. Pretty soon there will be as many lawyers making money from fools that think the earth was made in 6000 years as there are fools that think the earth is heating up.

I don't think you read the article very well, but used your bias about religion to color your remarks. I am not religious, don't go to church and don't think of myself as a christian. However, I do know that much of what they teach in school about evolution is false and should be corrected. This doesn't mean I want ID taught in schools and I think from reading the article that this man doesn't either. What he seems to want is the truth be told about evolution and that is where school boards and some scientists come unglued. If the facts and glaring mistakes about evolution were revealed to the general public then someone is going to have to come up with a new theory. Don't know what that would be but it isn't evolution, not as it is proposed and taught today. This doen't make me a believer in ID, not do I believe the world is only 6,000 years old. What I do KNOW without a doubt is that the theory of evolution has more holes than a swiss cheese and this needs to be addressed by the scientific community and corrected.

[doctor noe]

What's with all this controversy over evolution vs. creation in high school biology? I took 2 years of biology in high school and 1 year in college and the subject of evolution never came up. All we did was dissect worms, frogs and fetal pigs, mate fruit flies and learn about genetics. What the hell are they doing in schools now anyway?

[PeterFinn]

"Just state that other theories exist and be done with it."

Even this very reasonable idea is unacceptable to the religious Darwinists.

[gakrak]

A good case for privatizing all schools, take NEA and government out of the equation.

[PeterFinn]

"What the hell are they doing in schools now anyway?"

The more you find out what is going on in our schools now-a-days the more you'll want to grab a pitchfork and a torch and head off to a school board meeting.

In the Elk Grove School District just a couple of years ago freshmen high school English students were reading "The Wantons" as required reading in one class.

http://www.olympiapress.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=311

Would you believe the school administration *defended* this until Christian Coalition threatened to go to a school board meeting and read selections from the book into the record?

Other schools reportedly still use this piece of filth as a textbook.

And this is just ONE example of what in the name of Hell they are doing in our schools.

[Dataman]

Don't confuse him with the facts; he's too busy defending his dogma.

The Top 10 Reasons to Believe in Evolution (as presented by its FR apologists)

No scientist believes in creation and if he does, he is not a scientist.

You only THINK you see design.

Creationists have an agenda. Evolutionists do not.

Anything but evolution is religion.

Creationists have nothing but Genesis for evidence.

Theory now means fact, so evolution is a fact.

The Founders were creationists only because they were ignorant.

Answering creationist arguments is the same as refuting them.

We have a mountain of overwhelming evidence that proves evolution but we forgot where we put it.

If you do not believe in evolution, you do not understand science (We're smart-- you're not).

[Dataman]

fools that think the earth was made in 6000 years

See post 18, item 10.

[Prime Choice]

"These are tactics you'd expect in a banana republic, not the state of California," said Caldwell.

Wake up, Mr. Caldwell. California has long since become the banana republic of Mexico and Soviet-style government. Thank the Liberals and RINOs.