Local School Districts

 

In the aftermath of the McLean v Arkansas and Edwards v Aguillard decisions, efforts to introduce voluntary "equal time" policies at the local school board levels have largely replaced creationist efforts to legislate "balanced treatment" at the state or Federal level. Creationist-fighters must therefore be prepared to fight it out in the local school boards.

Every one of the "steps" spelled out by the ICR for use in school board fights must be opposed and defeated by the creationist-fighters. The first step in the creationist program consists of spreading creationist information to as many local people as possible. In turn, then, the first step of the creationist-fighters must be to flood the local population with real information, countering the creationist pseudo-science at every turn. The creationists will trot out every one of their well-worn pseudo-scientific arguments against evolution, from thermodynamics to magnetic decay to the fossil record. Every one of these must be clearly and concisely answered. The religious basis for all of the creationists' "scientific data" must be exposed, using the creationists' own writings, and the religious aims of their "science" must be emphasized at every turn. The creationists will make every effort to depict the controversy as a scientific one, and will insist that they are only interested in "good science". This lie must be exposed forcefully and emphatically. School board meetings, letters to the editor, leaflets, public informational workshops, local TV and radio current events shows will help spread the word about the real sectarian aims of the creation "scientists". The Plano creationist-fighters, for instance, used press releases and letters to the editor very effectively in countering the creationists' distortions and in disseminating accurate information.

Those with scientific knowledge must clearly and concisely demonstrate that creationism, while loaded with distortions and flat-out lies, is not merely bad science, but is not in fact science at all, merely that old time religion. Local religious leaders can perform an invaluable service by stressing the isolation of the fundamentalists and the near-total rejection of their literalist Biblical views by the mainstream religious community, as well as the inherent dangers in allowing the state to enshrine the views of a particular religious sect into law or policy. The creationists' self-righteous efforts to paint their sectarian views as "the" Christian outlook are presumptuous and arrogant, and this should be pointed out repeatedly to those of all religious persuasions. Educators and school officials must make clear the devastating effects that would result from introducing sectarian religious doctrines into the schools. Those with legal experience must point out that Federal law on this matter is very explicit--creationism is religion, and as such, it has no place in the public school.

Teachers in the school district, as well as the local school board members, must also be made to understand the legal and financial consequences of a 'balanced treatment" policy--and it must be made very clear to them that, if such a policy is passed, a legal fight will immediately follow. (Creationist-fighters will be able to get free legal aid from the ACLU or some other organization.) Legal fights over constitutional issues such as this are long, drawn-out and horrifically expensive--and the creationists have lost every one they've ever been involved with. Not very many school districts will be anxious to sink a small fortune into a fight that they will know they have very little chance of winning.

And individual teachers are not exempted from these potential costs. It is a prime tactic for creationists to attempt to use a sympathetic teacher to request 'balanced educational materials" which favor creationism. Sometimes, teachers may even be told by the creationists that they have a legal right, under the Free Speech provisions of the Constitution, to teach creationism in their classroom if they want. In fact, they have no such right. In the case of Ray Webster v New Lenox School District No. 122, a US Appellate Court upheld a school district's right to prohibit the teaching of creation "science" (citing the First Amendment's Establishment Clause) and to fire any teacher who refuses to comply with this policy. In effect, the Federal courts have concluded that creation "science", in any form, is de facto religion, and cannot be taught in a public school classroom. Thus, as the ACLU pointedly reminded the Plano school board members who were asking for creationist textbooks to be adopted, both teachers and school board members may be held personally liable in a civil lawsuit if they attempt to use a public school district's time or resources to teach creationism. Such a reminder may be enough to quiet teachers who might otherwise be willing to serve as the creationists' catspaw.