Recent disputes over a textbook disclaimer in Oklahoma and a charter school that wanted to teach creationism in Rochester, NY, are just a few recent examples of the perpetually simmering debate started when Charles Darwin published his revolutionary theory a century and a half ago. When it comes to how schools should handle what has been portrayed as a conflict between evolution and creation, the public agrees on a number of basic principles, although they haven't formulated a detailed idea of precisely how schools can resolve the matter in practice. There is broad agreement that schools should acknowledge that some people have creationist beliefs and even teach about those beliefs - but not as science. There is also a strong consensus not only that schools should teach evolution, but that how they handle the subject along with creationist beliefs should be a matter of national policy, not just a local matter to be decided by each state or school district. The poll results also suggest that, while the public is overwhelmingly supportive of teaching evolution, their knowledge is quite limited about the details of evolutionary theory, pointing to a need for greater efforts to inform and educate the public about evolution.
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