Friday, December 7th, 2007

Education and Evolution in Texas

The education official responsible for the science curriculum in the state of Texas resigned last month saying she was forced to step down after being reprimanded for informing colleagues of a talk on the conflict over the teaching of evolution. Christine Castillo Comer, former Director of Science in the curriculum division of the Texas Education Agency, forwarded several colleagues an email notice of a upcoming talk by Barbara Forrest, co-author of the book "Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design." Castillo Comer's supervisor said the email was grounds for termination as the 'FYI' email "implies endorsement of the speaker and implies that TEA endorses the speaker's position on a subject on which the agency must remain neutral." In this segment, Ira talks with Christine Castillo Comer about the case and about evolution, 'intelligent design,' and creationism in Texas.