After an anonymous donor gave 60 copies of "Of Pandas and People" to Dover High School in York County, Northern Virginia, the members of the Debunk Creation mail list decided to band together and donate some books to the school library.
Donated books: The proposed donation includes titles such as "What Evolution Is," by biologist Ernst Mayr, "Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics," by Robert Pennock and "Finding Darwin's God," by biologist Kenneth R. Miller.
As it happens, the school board is reviewing the donation.
Board president Sheila Harkins said the board's curriculum committee will review this donation the same as it did the "Pandas" donation. She said the committee doesn't have set criteria that it looks for acceptable books, but it will make sure they are not "advanced academically beyond anyone's comprehension."
Well, "Pandas" was intended as a supplementary text, and was written by someone who may or may not have had an axe to grind. (I'll offer no judgment here.) The books that were donated by Debunk Creation are all books intended for the general public. They're written for interested laymen who are not expected to have a background in science.
I'm wondering. Is the school board admitting that the average high school student – or even the majority of their high school students – are unable to comprehend books written for the general public?
If so, the creation/evolution/ID/IOT "controversy" is the least of their concerns.
No comments:
Post a Comment