Two teachers from Kansas, Brad Williamson and Steve Case, will deliver a keynote on Friday night, discussing the well-publicized battle over science standards waged last year in their state. Kansas's conservative school board decided not to include evolution in the state science standards. In every state, teachers use those standards as a guide for what they should be teaching. Molleen Matsumura, network project director for the National Center for Science Education , which also sent representatives to the conference, agreed. He is currently taking a leave of absence from his job to write a biology textbook.
Educators stress that keeping scientific and religious thought separate is critical.
Larry Flammer, a retired teacher from Campbell, California, said that he never shied away from mentioning the debate over evolution in his science classes. Flammer said that he made it clear that science has its rules, and religion has its own set of rules. There are different ways of understanding the world we live in. Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved.