Neanderthal Man," a reenactment that involves no reenactors. The _Washington Post_ reports that the National Center for Science Education's case against the film has been given some credibility: its claims about teaching creationism in public schools have been endorsed by the U.S. Supreme Court, by numerous legal experts, and by various judges around the nation. **2006** : In the first full year of high school biology class devoted to creationism, Dr. Richard Foth takes the helm at Bay High School in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He also teaches physics and American history. When a student complains about the curriculum, Foth responds with the words, "You can't put science on the same level as Shakespeare or Dickens." ### SKEPTICAL SCIENCE REPORT: "AN ANTIQUATED VIEW OF GOD"? **2005** : The Dover school board in Pennsylvania votes to require "critical analysis" of evolutionary theory in its classrooms. This will require students to "critically analyze" every theory, including the Big Bang, the age of the earth, and the theory of evolution. **2006** : The board asks a local college to evaluate and "improve" a curriculum it has developed. (The college accedes to this request.) The faculty of the college, though, votes (ninety to one) not to recommend the use of the new curriculum. **2007** : A local school board passes a resolution calling for the discussion of "intelligent design." This was a clear violation of federal laws requiring the teaching of evolution in public schools, as the board had been warned previously by the U.S. Department of Justice. **2008** : The school board does away with the intelligent design proposal. "Intelligent design" isn't science; therefore, it can't be taught in schools. (Though, interestingly enough, a poll shows that most residents around Dover think that "the intelligent design theory... is scientifically sound" and that "it should be added as a possible theory to the curriculum.") **2008** : A biology textbook publisher decides to include "a discussion of the weaknesses of the theory of evolution." That's right, to argue against evolution is now considered good science. **2008** : After much publicity, a survey shows that only 30 percent of students in Texas have been taught the basic principles of evolution. **2009** : A school board in Kentucky tries to replace its biology curriculum with one that includes, as superintendent John Bruff puts it, "the inclusion of a variety of other intelligent design concepts that question the validity of Darwinian Evolution." He then adds that Darwin himself "would be rolling over in his grave." **2009** : During the 2009–2010 school year, a school board in Dover, Pennsylvania, adopts the curriculum that it had voted against in 2005. The curriculum includes "critically analyzing" all theories, including the Big Bang, evolution, and plate tectonics. **2009** : When another school board, in rural Cobb County, Georgia, requests assistance in revising a biology curriculum, the county schools superintendent says that intelligent design has no place in science classrooms. **2010** : The Cobb County school board votes to require that science teachers begin their curriculum with intelligent design. The board also requires that students "critically analyze" all theories, including the theory of evolution, plate tectonics, and global warming. **2010** : The Dover School Board votes to fire a science teacher for teaching intelligent design and evolution—without offering him a reason for the firing or any assistance. **2011** : A national survey finds that two-thirds of the school districts in the United States have received grant money from the federal government to teach intelligent design or creationism. The survey also finds that 40 percent of students in those districts learn that it is "more probable" than not that humans descended from earlier life-forms. **2011** : A committee in the Texas State Board of Education calls for a full review of the high school biology curriculum to make sure that evolution is taught to students. (The board denies that it is taking any such action.) **2011** : A U.S. District Court in Missouri approves a settlement that calls for a reevaluation of teaching intelligent design, at the direction of the Missouri State Board of Education. **2011** : A teacher from Louisiana is suspended from his position after being discovered teaching intelligent design in his classroom, in violation of the state's science standards. **2011** : The National Academy of Science releases a report that suggests that the teaching of intelligent design would constitute "educational malpractice" and urges public schools not to offer it. **2011** : A school board in Kentucky votes to prohibit the teaching of intelligent design or creationism in the classroom. **2011** : An Arizona school district that had previously taught intelligent design begins teaching evolution—as recommended by the State Department of Education. **2011** : After a hearing in the State of New Hampshire, a judge rules that intelligent design has no place in science classrooms. **2011** : Louisiana lawmakers pass a bill that would allow students in public schools to present "academic" defenses of intelligent design. **2012** : U.S. District Judge John Jones in Topeka, Kansas, rules that the school board has violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution by promoting and endorsing the religion of creationism. **2012** : In Ohio, evolution is presented as fact in public high schools while intelligent design is not. The next year, there are similar gaps for astronomy and biology. **2013** : In an early poll, one-third of fourth graders believe that God created the world in six days, and an equal percentage believe in evolution. **2013** : In a ruling that might be considered a setback, a federal judge in Texas finds that the Dover School Board's actions violate the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. **2013** : A federal judge in Kansas strikes down the statewide teaching of intelligent design, finding it to be "prejudicial to religious beliefs" and "nothing more than thinly veiled religious instruction." **2014** : In another ruling on the teaching of intelligent design, a federal judge in Oregon also finds that teaching intelligent design is unconstitutional. **2014** : The State of Kansas bans the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. **2015** : The Dover School Board passes a resolution apologizing to its citizens for "attempting to infuse intelligent design into the science curriculum." **2015** : A federal judge strikes down the district's policy that requires teachers to criticize evolution and instruct students that "some scientific evidence" supports intelligent design. **2015** : A ruling in Michigan permits a student to sue a school district for requiring students to recite an invocation (intended to be a prayer) before their graduation. (The judge suggests that school districts give students the choice of whether or not to participate.) ## Chapter 9 ## Education for Creationism: From Texas to Tennessee "The most notable event in the evolution versus creationism saga in Texas in recent years occurred in early 1998, when the Texas legislature enacted a statute forbidding the teaching of any theory suggesting that biological or fossil hominid footprints discovered on public or private property might have been left by someone other than human beings." —"Scientists Fight Anti-Evolutionism at Grassroots Level," _New York Times_ , March 25, 1998 "The Texas State Board of Education on Monday approved an optional lesson plan that encourages teachers to ask students if they think the Earth was created in 4004 B.C., the widely accepted age for the Earth and the universe, or that it might have existed for millions or billions of years." — _New York Times_ , October 7, 1999 "In what appears to be a direct violation of science education standards in Tennessee, state legislators have inserted a set of 'findings' into a House budget bill that is meant to boost science education." — _Science_ , January 3, 2002 ### INCOME TAX CUT FOR EARTH-MASSED CREATIONISTS: "IT'S A FAR CRAZIER ROLE THAN ANYBODY EVER DREAMED OF" For a few years, some Americans—most notably oil and auto executives—have paid income tax on that money when they earned it. By now the practice is so ingrained in our culture that most people can't imagine a day when income taxes were not collected from income-earning Americans. In recent years, however, more and more people are complaining that they don't get to keep a piece of the money they earned: many business owners, including some of the most successful in America, are complaining that they have been forced to give much of the money they make to the government in the form of taxes. A few months after the federal government went on an unprecedented spending spree, voters in dozens of states showed up at the polls to vote for propositions to force spending cuts in some form or another. (Unfortunately, they usually lost these battles.) In what was to become one of the great ironies of contemporary politics, it would appear that the voters—many of them religious—voted to slash their tax burdens and have the government take less of their money while giving other people more of it. In fact, they were hoping to achieve just the opposite: they wanted to rein in government spending,