BOSTON -- Fearing a growing assault on the teaching of Darwin's theories, a group of textbook authors has launched a campaign in defense of evolution education.
A joint statement, released Friday at the National Science Teachers Association, a convention of 20,000 science teachers, comes as some school districts consider softening their evolution curricula."As scientists and teachers, we find it unacceptable that school districts considering our books for adoption would be encouraged to choose one book over another based on the perception that teachers should avoid the topic of evolution," the statement reads.
Backed by the California-based National Center for Science Education, the signers include Bruce Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences and an author of a cell biology book.
Evolution education continues to raise passions in American schools more than 70 years after teacher John Scopes was convicted of violating a Tennessee law against teaching it. And the debate rages a decade after the Supreme Court ruled that public schools can't teach that God created the universe.
Over the last five years, the National Center for Science Education has logged scores of complaints from parents and educators worried about attacks on evolution education.
Some school districts have pushed for textbooks that are considered "soft" on evolution teaching, said Molleen Matsumura of the NCSE.
Others have advocated disclaimer stickers on texts, such as one approved by the Alabama Board of Education in 1995. The Alabama label explains that evolution is a theory and that text statements about the origins of life should be considered as such.
Last month, the Melvindale-Northern Allen Park School Board in Michigan decided to supply some of its libraries with books that raise questions about the validity of evolutionary theory.