Science standards approved for schools
(by Colton Campbell/Times-Georgian/05.22.12)
The first public draft of Georgia’s new science standards were made available for public comment last week, and one Carroll County church disapproves of some of its content.
The Next Generation Science Standards include ideas, practices and concepts that instruct students about natural selection and evolution. Students will learn about the evidence of adaptation and common ancestry and diversity.
Bob Staples, a member of Villa Rica Church of Christ, said he doesn’t think the teaching of evolution is good education.
“I ask that it be removed from the classroom because it is not actual science,” Staples said. “But that’s not going to happen; I know that.”
The church sponsors the Web page Christians4Science, which contains text and videos that reprehend the teaching of evolution in public schools.
“I like that they’re making the effort to improve science education,” Staples said. “My position on the teaching of evolution as a fact is that it needs to be critically analyzed. There are scientific problems with evolutionary principles.”
Zoe Evans, a life science teacher at Central Middle School, was on the Next Generation Science Standards writing team, and she said the team tried to stay true to the framework outlined by the National Research Council.
“Some of the greatest minds in scientific education and science itself provided that framework,” she said. “All standards, not just those dealing with evolution, were based on that framework.”
Kathy Rogers, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning for Carroll County, said the new standards will not be taught in life science classrooms until a couple of years from now.
Evans said the new standards have come about because it’s been more than 15 years since the standards were last looked at.
“Science is a dynamic, changing field,” she said. “We just want to provide a quality education for our children.”
Staples said he has never seen any clear evidence to support evolution.
“If there’s no evidence, and we’re supposed to be teaching about things with identifiable evidence, then why are we teaching it in science classes?” he asked. “Because people have made it a law that you can teach it.”
Staples said he believes there are standard-writers who are putting there own beliefs into their work.
“I believe that with this new scientific effort, there’s some evolutionists inserting their beliefs into it,” he said.
Staples stressed that he does not want creationism to be taught in public schools instead of evolution.
The first public draft of Georgia’s Next Generation Science Standards became available at
www.nextgenscience.org last Friday. It will be available there until June 1.
Twenty-five states, including Georgia, and the District of Columbia are leading the development of the NGSS, an effort that will clearly define the content and practices all students will need to learn from kindergarten through high school graduation. The NGSS process is being managed by Achieve, a non-partisan education non-profit.
As for why the new standards are being implemented, the Georgia Department of Education said in a press release that American students continue to lag internationally in science education, making them less competitive for the jobs of the present and the future.
A recent U.S. Department of Commerce study shows that over the past 10 years, growth in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) jobs was three times greater than that of non-STEM jobs. The report also shows that STEM jobs are expected to continue to grow at a faster rate than other jobs in the coming decade, according to the release.
To provide comments on the new standards, go to
www.nextgenscience.org and click on any of the links that say “Go to the NGSS Survey” before June 1. For more information about Villa Rica Church of Christ and Christians4Science, visit
www.unity-in-christ.org.
“There are directions and an instructional video on how to give feedback on that website,” Staples said. “We just want to let people know what they can do.”
So, they oppose it because it politicizes the theory, not because it's total hogwash (which is is). Oh, and they also oppose it because all those stupid science teachers don't understand it well enough to teach it (maybe because it's not science, and there's nothing to teach or understand). 
