CA Rejects Anti-Evolution Policy

Roseville nixes teaching plan, resource library opposing Darwinian theory

Kathy Ishizuka -- School Library Journal, 7/1/2004

Biology teachers in Roseville, CA, near Sacramento, will not be required to explore alternatives to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution with their students. That's the decision of the Roseville Joint Union High School District's board of trustees, which rejected the so-called Quality Science Education Policy on May 25, following months of debate.

Defeated in a 3–2 vote, the proposed policy called for teachers to offer students other theories about the origin of life and biological diversity. While classrooms would retain existing life-science textbooks, collections of resources both for and against evolution were planned for Roseville's four high school libraries.

Dean Forman, president of the board of trustees, who supported the proposal, says the resource centers would have represented "the full range of scientific theories." Although he did not name any specific materials that would have been included, he says the resources would not have promoted either creationism or intelligent design and would have been appropriate for school libraries, which are places intended for student exploration. The policy also required that a letter be sent home to parents stating that evolution would be taught in a nondogmatic fashion, citing scientific skepticism about Darwin's theory of natural selection.

Local parent Larry Caldwell, who had originally proposed the policy, says he believes that there are weaknesses in Darwinian theory, reports the Sacramento Bee. But Forman says the policy "didn't go over with teachers, who felt their professional integrity was questioned." Parents and students had joined teachers in fighting the policy in several hours-long debates attended by as many as 200 people.