Evolution to Be Taught in State's Public Schools

TALLAHASSEE - Florida school children will be taught that evolution is a ``scientific theory'' through a compromise Tuesday that left neither side satisfied although supporters of Charles Darwin's big idea were much happier than its opponents.

That's because Florida's public school science standards for the first time will actually use the word ``evolution'' although the biological concept currently is taught under code words such as ``change over time.

''More significant, though, the new standards require more in-depth teaching of evolution and hold that it is ``the fundamental concept underlying all of biology and is supported by multiple forms of scientific evidence.''

That statement rankled opponents, some of whom had urged the State Board of Education to add an ``academic freedom'' provision that would have let teachers ``engage students in a critical analysis of that evidence.

''Evolution supporters, including mainstream scientists and clergy, told the board before the 4-3 vote the academic freedom proposal was a wedge designed to open the door for injecting religious arguments into science studies.

``We know what's going on here,'' said board member Roberto ``Bobby'' Martinez, a Miami lawyer. ``What we have here is an effort by people to water down our standards.''

That brought shouts of ``no'' from the audience. Opponents, including some scientists, denied they have a religious motive. Instead, they argued there are flaws in the theory of evolution and that students should be allowed to explore them.

The vote was the latest in a long line of public debates over evolution dating back to the Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925, when a teacher was convicted of violating Tennessee's evolution ban. That verdict was reversed on technicality, but courts later ruled evolution could be taught.

Courts subsequently barred teaching the biblical account of creation along with evolution. Most recently, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled that intelligent design, which holds the universe's order and complexity is so great science alone cannot explain it, also was a religious theory and could not be taught in public schools.

As originally written by a committee of scientists and educators, Florida's new standards referred to evolution without the ``scientific theory'' qualifying language. The standards also contain a section noting that a scientific theory is a well-supported and accepted explanation of nature, not simply a claim.``

I'm 98 percent satisfied,'' said Dr. Ray Bellamy, director of surgery at the Tallahassee campus of Florida State University's Medical School, who spoke for the original draft. ``I don't think it weakens the standards very much.''

Joe Wolf, president of Florida Citizens for Science, initially welcomed the compromise when it was proposed last week, but Tuesday he said it will introduce awkwardness and confusion into the standards.``It doesn't destroy them,'' Wolf said. ``It weakens them.''

The compromise also disappointed John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, an Orlando-based advocacy group. He's also leading a campaign to pass a state constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage.

``It's a superficial fix that does not address the problem,'' Stemberger said. ``It's really an attempt to placate the public but does not address the real issue of academic freedom.''

Stemberger said his organization will ask the Legislature to add the academic freedom proposal to the standards. John Sullivan, executive director of the Florida Baptist Convention, also rejected the compromise in an e-mail to Education Commissioner Eric Smith, who had proposed it Friday.

Sullivan objected to calling evolution the only fundamental concept underlying biology. He wrote that Baptists firmly believe there's evidence of a ``Creator-initiated origin of life'' but did not object to teaching evolution. He argued, though, its scientific weaknesses should be taught as well as its strengths.

The academic freedom proposal also would have referred to evolution as ``a'' rather than ``the'' fundamental concept underlying biology.

Board Chairman T. Willard Fair, who heads the Urban League of Greater Miami, cast the deciding vote. He was joined by Phoebe Raulerson, a former Okeechobee County school superintendent; Kathleen Shanahan, a Tampa businesswoman, and Linda Taylor, a Fort Myers businesswoman.

Martinez, Donna Callaway, a retired Tallahassee principal, and Dr. Akshay Desai, a geriatric care specialist from St. Petersburg, voted against it.

``It doesn't go far enough,'' Callaway said after the vote, indicating she would have preferred the academic freedom proposal. ``I think teachers can take it far enough if they choose to do that, and I hope that's the message that goes out.''

Shanahan agreed with opponents who said evolution is not a fact, but she said the academic freedom proposal was unnecessary because standards for the nature of science cover the same territory for all scientific inquiry, not just evolution