Ed. note: It is the scienctific method versus the religious right, and teachers vs. Senate Republicans. Let's hope Senate Democrats are on the right side, stand their ground and block McLeroy's nomination.
The Texas Senate may now be considering the confirmation of Don McLeroy to lead the State Board of Education, who may or may not know anything about public education. The Texas Freedom Network has been all over this story -- here's a quick recap of his, um, viewpoints: It’s McLeroy who told the New York Times that he sees two systems of science, one “naturalist” and the other “creationist.” It’s McLeroy who has said he wants to redefine science to include supernatural explanations. It’s McLeroy who has strongly endorsed a book that says parents who want their children to learn about evolution are “monsters” and that clergy who see no conflict between their faith and science are “morons.” It’s McLeroy who has said he was one of only “four really conservative, orthodox Christians on the board” who opposed science textbooks in 2003 that didn’t challenge evolution.
Weeks ago, Republican State Senator Mike Jackson was not going to release McLeroy to the full floor of the Senate because he didn't have the votes. Now, McLeroy's nomination has been boosted to the full floor of the State Senate. In theory, this shouldn't even be an issue -- the twelve Democrats in the Senate should be able to block it, no problem. And my guess is that Senator Jackson finally just pushed it to the Senate floor because time is running out -- and there is word that Republican wing-nuts are demanding Creationist McLeroy's confirmation. Let's not get mixed up here -- McLeroy's idiocy has nothing to do with his creationist beliefs, though calling parents "mosters" for wanting to teach their children about evolution is definitely the mark of the unbalanced. It has more to do with his trashing of any expert opinion -- and of teachers -- over the simplest of issues: At the public State Board of Education meeting in March, TPPF ripped into these writing teams, claiming that they had “removed or changed important pieces of history and government to reflect an anti-free-market viewpoint.” Several board members joined in the feeding frenzy, slandering the work of these teachers without even bothering to hear their explanation. During the SBOE meeting today, board member Mary Helen Berlanga, D-Corpus Christi, asked how this early document – which members of the teacher writing teams clearly thought was confidential — ended up in the hands of TPPF. To his credit, McLeroy stepped forward and admitted that after reading the document, he sent it to TPPF – presumably knowing that the group would go public with its ideological criticisms. A number of teachers came before the board today to object to the shoddy treatment they recieved, primarily concerned that the board had not even given them a chance to answer the charges against them before airing them in a public hearing.
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