"In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made School Boards." -- Mark Twain

Christine Comer, former director of science education in Texas.
photo by Erich Schlegel for The New York Times

Agence-Vleeptron Presse backgrounder:

* Austin is the state capital of Texas, and is also the home of the academically prestigious University of Texas.

* Ms. Comer's quote in The New York Times:

“It’s not just a good idea;
it’s the law,”

is a reference to a famous classroom poster about Newton's Laws:

Gravity:
It’s not just a good idea.
It’s the law.

===============

The New York Times (USA)
Monday 3 December 2007

Official Leaves Post
as Texas Prepares to Debate
Science Education Standards

by Ralph Blumenthal

HOUSTON, Dec. 2 — After 27 years as a science teacher and 9 years as the Texas Education Agency’s director of science, Christine Castillo Comer said she did not think she had to remain “neutral” about teaching the theory of evolution.

“It’s not just a good idea; it’s the law,” said Ms. Comer, citing the state’s science curriculum.

But now Ms. Comer, 56, of Austin, is out of a job, after forwarding an e-mail message on a talk about evolution and creationism — “a subject on which the agency must remain neutral,” according to a dismissal letter last month that accused her of various instances of “misconduct and insubordination” and of siding against creationism and the doctrine that life is the product of “intelligent design.”

Her departure, which has stirred dismay among science professionals since it became public last week, is a prelude to an expected battle early next year over rewriting the state’s science education standards, which include the teaching of evolution.

Debbie Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman for the state’s education agency in Austin, said Ms. Comer “resigned. She wasn’t fired.”

“Our job,” Ms. Ratcliffe added, “is to enact laws and regulations that are passed by the Legislature or the State Board of Education and not to inject personal opinions and beliefs.”

Ms. Comer disputed that characterization in a series of interviews, her first extensive comments. She acknowledged forwarding to a local online community an e-mail message from the National Center for Science Education, a pro-evolution group, about a talk in Austin on Nov. 2 by Barbara Forrest, a professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University, a co-author of “Inside Creationism’s Trojan Horse” and an expert witness in the landmark 2005 case that ruled against the teaching of intelligent design in the Dover, Pa., schools.

“I don’t see how I took a position by F.Y.I.-ing on a lecture like I F.Y.I. on global warming or stem-cell research,” Ms. Comer said. “I send around all kinds of stuff, and I’m not accused of endorsing it.” But she said that as a career science educator, “I’m for good science,” and that when it came to teaching evolution, “I don’t think it’s any stretch of the imagination where I stand.”

Ms. Comer said state education officials seemed uneasy lately over the required evolution curriculum. It had always been part of her job to answer letter-writers inquiring about evolution instruction, she said, and she always replied that the State Board of Education supported the teaching of evolution in Texas schools.

But several months ago, in response to an inquiry letter, Ms. Comer said she was instructed to strike her usual statement about the board’s support for teaching evolution and to quote instead the exact language of the high school biology standards as formulated for the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills test.

“The student knows the theory of biological evolution,” the standards read, and is expected to “identify evidence of change in species using fossils, DNA sequences, anatomical similarities, physiological similarities and embryology,” as well as to “illustrate the results of natural selection in speciation, diversity, phylogeny, adaptation, behavior and extinction.”

The standards, adopted in 1998, are due for a 10-year review and possible revision after the 15-member elected State Board of Education meets in February, with particular ramifications for the multibillion-dollar textbook industry. The chairman of the panel, Dr. Don McLeroy, a dentist and Sunday School teacher at Grace Bible Church in College Station, has lectured favorably in the past about intelligent design.

Ms. Ratcliffe, of the Texas Education Agency, said Dr. McLeroy played no part in Ms. Comer’s departure.

Ms. Comer said that barely an hour after forwarding the e-mail message about Dr. Forrest’s talk, she was called in and informed that Lizzette Reynolds, deputy commissioner for statewide policy and programs, had seen a copy and complained, calling it “an offense that calls for termination.” Ms. Comer said she had no idea how Ms. Reynolds, a former federal education official who served as an adviser to George W. Bush when he was governor of Texas, had seen the message so quickly, and remembered thinking, “What is this, the thought police or what?”

Under pressure, Ms. Comer said, she sent out a retraction, advising recipients to disregard the message.

But Ms. Comer, the divorced mother of a grown son and daughter and the supporter of an ailing father, was still forced out of the $60,000-a-year job, she said, submitting her resignation on Nov. 7. She and the agency said nothing about her departure until The Austin American-Statesman obtained a copy of the “proposed disciplinary action” and her resignation letter.

Ms. Comer said that Tom Shindell, director for organizational development, had told her to resign or be terminated for a series of unauthorized presentations at professional meetings and other reported transgressions.

“Tom,” Ms. Comer said she asked, “am I getting fired over evolution?”

- 30 -

===============

Austin American-Statesman
(daily, Austin Texas USA)
Saturday 1 December 2007

Editorial

Is misdeed a creation
of political doctrine?

by The Editorial Board

Is this state’s education agency being driven by a political orthodoxy so fierce that it dumped its science director for passing along a harmless e-mail? It’s possible.

Chris Comer was director of the science curriculum for the Texas Education Agency for nearly a decade when she was forced to resign recently. Her offense, as unbelievable as it is to relate, was forwarding an e-mail message about a presentation by an author critical of the intelligent design approach to science education.

The education agency, of course, portrays the problem as one of insubordination and misconduct. But from all appearances, Comer was pushed out because the agency is enforcing a political doctrine of strict conservatism that allows no criticism of creationism.

This state has struggled for years with the ideological bent of the state school board, but lawmakers took away most of its power to infect education some years ago. Politicizing the Texas Education Agency, which oversees the education of children in public schools, would be a monumental mistake.

This isn’t the space to explore the debate over creationism, intelligent design and evolution. Each approach should be fair game for critical analysis, so terminating someone for just mentioning a critic of intelligent design smacks of the dogma and purges in the Soviet era.

But then, this is a new and more political time at the state’s education agency.

Robert Scott, the new education commissioner, is not an educator but a lawyer and former adviser to Gov. Rick Perry. This presents an excellent opportunity for the governor and his appointee to step in firmly to put an end to ideological witch hunts in the agency.

The person who called for Comer to be fired is Lizzette Reynolds, a former deputy legislative director for Gov. George Bush. She joined the state education agency this year as an adviser after a stint in the U.S. Department of Education.

In her memo criticizing Comer, Reynolds said that Comer’s passing along the e-mail “assumes this is a subject that the agency supports.” That’s absurd, of course, but it is in keeping with enforcing a doctrine that says creationism must not be criticized.

Creationism is a religious belief that rejects Darwin’s theory of evolution and holds that life on Earth was created by a deity. Intelligent design is the theory that the universe is the result of an intelligent cause - a designer - not natural selection.

Intelligent design has been debated for two decades, and some view it as a way to explain both the biblical account of creation and aspects of evolution. Critics, such as the author whose presentation Comer passed along, believe it is mere cover for creationism.

Whether one accepts the theory of intelligent design or not, discussion encourages scientific exploration, which is what a science curriculum director should do. Forcing Comer out of her job because she passed on an e-mail about the critic’s presentation is egregiously wrong.

It looks like the Texas Education Agency has fallen victim to a smelly little orthodoxy, to quote author George Orwell. And that cannot be good for the schools or the schoolchildren of Texas.

If this agency is indeed in the grip of an unforgiving political ideology, it bears close scrutiny by all Texans.

- 30 -

Comments (32)
Click here to report comment abuse.

By Paul Burnett

December 1, 2007 6:45 PM

It’s too bad the editorial did not mention the 2005 Dover trial (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dover_trial for a summary) wherein a Federal court ruled “We have concluded that intelligent design is not science, and moreover that intelligent design cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents.” - Judge John Jones, Harrisburg, PA, December 20, 2005.

Intelligent design creationism is not science, but religion, which cannot be taught in public schools. This lesson cost the Dover school district a million dollars, and every school board member involved was defeated in the next election. It is beginning to look like the State of Texas is about to make the same stupid mistake, and become another laughingstock in the long losing history of creationists’ attempts to regain ground lost to science, particularly (but not just limited to) evolution.

Forcing the resignation of a science curriculum director for mentioning science instead of religion is a step into the Dark Ages. To see what the theocrats in the Texas Education Agency were so terrified of, see Barbara Forrest’s paper “Understanding the intelligent design creationist movement: Its true nature and goals,” available at http://www.centerforinquiry.net/uploads/attachments/intelligent-design.pdf

But beware: If you are an employee of the State of Texas, you may be fired for reading (or thinking about) Dr. Forrest’s paper.

By Jay

December 1, 2007 7:18 PM | Link to this

When will the Great State of Texas finally grow up and enter the 21st century? Hopefully there will be some legal remedy for this controversy. And soon.

By AgentG

December 1, 2007 7:55 PM | Link to this

Intelligent design is not a theory, but also presupposes a belief in a designer, and thus cannot be scientific. The board has conflated the scientific meaning of a theory with the colloquial one. This mistake not only distorts the scientific significance of evolution theory, it misinforms the public about the nature of science and scientific theories. A theory in science is much more than a hypothesis, because it is supported by large numbers of independent facts, such as experimental results and observations. Examples of scientific theories are the theory of gravity, germ theory, or the theory of electromagnetism. Thus, a theory in science is a powerful concept, which has never once been refuted by a factual observation.

By FredT

December 1, 2007 8:06 PM | Link to this

Let’s actively teach ignorance in our schools. Doing so will protect our school graduates from being competitive in the world marketplace. With just a little more effort we can have Americans chanting to kill me for having a bobblehead Jesus doll. Fundamentalist religion isn’t about religion, its all about power.

By Jerome Thomas

December 1, 2007 10:27 PM | Link to this

Make a note about these TEA politico cretins for consultation at the next election. These kinds of underhanded moves are getting school administrators and board members dumped across the country. In the meanwhile, remember that America is short of cheap, illiterate labor - and that Texas has moved to insure a reliable supply.

By Michael Corrigan

December 1, 2007 10:41 PM | Link to this

We need to get the 2000+-year old “alternative scientific theories” of JudeoChristianIslam-ity, which are simply irrational superstitions, out of our school systems. Holding these beliefs is, ironically, an argument against Intelligent Design. Furthermore, to perpetrate the God agenda on our public school systems is un-American in the fundamental legal sense of the constitution which forbids government to pass laws concerning religion. Consequently, the executive branch, can’t do it by policies either.

By Kurt Faasse

December 1, 2007 11:12 PM | Link to this

Reading the previous comments reminds me that there are rational people in Texas as there are anywhere. Let us hope they are in the great state’s majority. (I’m a New Yorker. Go, Texas. Win this one for your children.)

By Jennifer

December 1, 2007 11:18 PM | Link to this

My question is - why did she resign? She should have made them terminate her and then filed suit. At least that way, it would be on the books to protect others who speak out against this absolute fictitious garbage in the future. She could have gotten a nice settlement out of it as well, and any educational agency worth a damn would hire her for having such high ethical principles.

By jim

December 2, 2007 12:20 AM | Link to this

normal procedure, appoint loyalists to top positions no matter how incompetent they are. find out who doesn’t agree completely and screw them until they can be fired or quit. then everyone else shuts up. especially those with mortgages or kids.

as completely as destroy that agency’s ability to function. then farm out the work to your campaign donors. prisons, social services, roads, public health, where can we send our friends some business. if they fail they still get to keep the money

By lloyd

December 2, 2007 11:04 AM | Link to this

thank you statesman. i know its hard for you sometimes but this is right on the money. all educators from our states great university’s should & will be raising hell. they will be coming for you next.

By Herman Cummings

December 2, 2007 11:47 AM | Link to this

A Scientific Prediction From Genesis

Besides myself, all others that try to tell us what Genesis says do not understand the text, and are speaking from ignorance. I’m sorry to have to take this position, but there are too many false teachers and unqualified people talking about “creation\evolution debates” (when no such contest exists), and proclaiming false doctrines about Genesis, such as Creation Science, theistic evolution, progressive creation, and “gap” theories. There is even the fad of “Intelligent Design”, which is a big waste of time, and has almost nothing of value to offer.

There are no “creation accounts” in Genesis. The opposing view of evolution is what I call “the Observations of Moses”, which were visions of six days from the past, given to Moses by God, on Mt. Sinai in 1598 BC. Each day was taken from a different day of the week, each week being the first week from a different geologic age of mankind.

Having said that, I am now making this declaration, so that mankind may know that the words and events written in Genesis are true, and the humanist theories of our origins are false. I predict that secular science shall soon find, if they have not already, solid evidence of prehistoric mankind, which is earlier than 30 million years in age. The book “Moses Didn’t Write About Creation!”, states from Genesis that mankind has been in his present likeness for over 60 million years. Moses wrote about extinction and restoration.

Herman Cummings PO Box 1745 Fortson GA, 31808 Ephraim7@aol.com

By Wanda

December 2, 2007 1:23 PM | Link to this

The US advantage in world economy and affairs has been based on education. Today China and India are producing more scientists and engineers than the US. Jobs are going to India, and manufactoring to China as well as others.
We can not produce scientists and engineers when we do not teach science in public schools. The same people who want intelligent design taught are the ones who complain the the US is losing its status in the world.

By A Nichols

December 2, 2007 2:15 PM | Link to this

Lizzette Reynolds is a scarey, scarey person. Thank you for your editiorial, but you position is at odds with Saturday’s column that Hyde Park Baptist’s Church’s actions should be tolerated in the name of Christian love.

By JoeT

December 2, 2007 3:04 PM | Link to this

This was a good editorial. I can’t add anything to it. However, I would further point out the futility of promoting intelligent design. Even if that were taught exclusively, how would anyone, including the promoters and their religions, benefit? This is another non-issue that has no relevance other than to widen the gap between outdated religion, and modern religion.

I have always held to the notion that the biblical description of how the world was created had been subject to misinterpretation of the ancient languages the bible was written in. An example would be the aramic word that was widely interpreted as “day”, as in the seven days of creation. It appears possible the aramic word could also mean “eons” depending on its context. That would make the original biblical account of creation allow modern theories to be non-contradictory. Some misinterpretation was obviously intentional on the part of the catholic church, and later by fundamentalists. In fact, the catholic church as well as several fundamental groups have re-written the bible so it seemingly more closely corresponds to their respective dogmas, or supports their politics.

Its too bad, for it contaminates the search for truth.

I agree with Jennifer in asking “Why did she resign?” rather than fighting the pressure put on her.

Hopefully the demagogue neo-cons who conned their way to control Texas politics will get voted out of power in the upcoming elections.

By OleHippieChick

December 2, 2007 3:05 PM | Link to this

“This state has struggled for years with the ideological bent of the state school board, but lawmakers took away most of its power to infect education some years ago.”

That didn’t work out too well. Infected!

“Politicizing the Texas Education Agency, which oversees the education of children in public schools, would be a monumental mistake.”

Would be? Too late. Lizzie’s a bu$hie. TEA already IS politicized. IT’S WHAT THEY DO.

By RogerW

December 2, 2007 3:48 PM | Link to this

There is also an excellent Nova episode that thoroughly documents the Dover, PA, case. It was on KLRU several weeks ago. Here’s the link to the Nova site to view it online. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/id/program.html It should be required viewing for everyone in this country, especially TEA.

By Mike Gene

December 2, 2007 3:58 PM | Link to this

It is unfortunate that the concept of Intelligent Design has become entangled in the Culture Wars. I do not think ID belongs in the schools, as it is not science. But neither is it religion or creationism. My book, The Design Matrix: A Consilience of Clues, the clarifies this. Some of us are tired of the heated debates, name-calling, innuendo, and political fights. Such people might find themselves in the middle ground and would rather focus on the hypotheses, the arguments, and the evidence.

Check out the trailer for my book.

www.thedesignmatrix.com

By Dave

December 2, 2007 4:57 PM | Link to this

As a biology professor in Kansas, I have to admit that I am happy to have this particular spotlight move from my state to the great state of Texas. But I do hope that your state doesn’t have to go through the multiple spasms of irrationality that have plagued Kansas. Intelligent Design (aka born-again creationism) is not science, and does not deserve even a modicum of neutrality in any educational setting. It is religion in a cheap lab coat. Good luck - we’ll be praying for ya.

By Lawrence

December 2, 2007 5:06 PM | Link to this

Since the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq I have heard countless criticisms of Muslim practice of Sharia law. This is an ‘Islamic religious law’ that forces people, sometimes violently, to follow a strict code of behavior. I see little difference between the practice of Sharia law in the Middle East and Africa and what is happing in the Texas Education Agency both are trying to impose a religious belief on those who may or may not agree.

By Ichthyic

December 2, 2007 6:11 PM | Link to this

“Such people might find themselves in the middle ground and would rather focus on the hypotheses, the arguments, and the evidence.”

here, let me correct that for accuracy, Mike Gene:

some people, who actually know better, would rather focus on the LACK of hypotheses, the incredibly poor arguments, and the entirely fictional and manufactured evidence (for ID).

good luck with your delusions, Mike.

one thing I’ll give you is that the arguments are just as poor for ID regardless of whether or not one attaches religious ideology to them.

By Kelly

December 2, 2007 6:18 PM | Link to this

Any editorial that begins with a wrong premise will end up at the wrong place. From all the evidence (eliminating surmise and speculation), Comer is no longer with the agency due to insubordination. Period.

By Russell

December 2, 2007 6:28 PM | Link to this

Evolution is ludicrous and shot full of holes. Intelligent Design simply attempts to address the shortcomings in this theory. How many so called “missing links” have later been found to be frauds? Some are acutally still taught as “science” in classrooms. Evolution is an atheistic religious dogma that is not supported by facts. I suggest you read some books by Dr. Hugh Ross, such as “Creation and Time”. Put your belief in evolution to the test and you will be glad you did.

By Marilyn Kircus

December 2, 2007 7:49 PM | Link to this

As an ex science teacher, I’m appalled at what passes for science education in Texas. Most Texans, including many teachers, can’t tell scientific data from opinion. Science is not taught as a process and as a way to determine if an hypothesis can be proven or not. But rather it is taught as a set of facts mixed with opinions. This is just another example of how Texans mix up facts and opinions and how politicians mostly completely ignore proven hypotheses. Right now one of the worst problems we are facing is global warming and for years, President Bush claimed this was a baseless opinion and even teachers still hold that view without the tools to determine how to test that hypothesis and how to determine the validity of the person presenting the data.

Until the multiple sides of every scientifically based issue is offered to our students and they are given the tools to test the information, we will remain in this sorry state where politics determines the science we are to even be exposed to.

By Jacque Rousseau

December 2, 2007 10:28 PM | Link to this

The ongoing revival of creatonism/intelligent design is not about religion, morality, or truth. This is all about political power—the manipulation, domination, and control of religious groups. Google—“the 14 points of Fascism” and read “The 12 Year Reich” by Richard Grunberger. Also read articles and books by Victor Klemperer—about the language of the Nazi’s. Deeply analyze the RNC minion organizations and you will find they operate by the same principles of Ernst Roehm’s SA brown shirts in Nazi Germany. They were used to suppress dissent and to keep the German people in line for the whims of the Nazi party.

By PulSamsara

December 2, 2007 10:28 PM | Link to this

As a Grand Exalted Wizard of the Eastern Texas Flat Earth Society I am gratified to hear we are finally taking a stand against these smarty pants sushi eating sandle wearin’ neo liberal pinko liberal ‘scientist’ ! I for one aint descended from no monkey ! ;)

By Mark Star

December 2, 2007 11:48 PM | Link to this

A famous Mark Twain quote was “In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Than, he made school boards”

By Acleron

December 3, 2007 3:59 AM | Link to this

Congratulations the Austin-American Statesman. It is rare to see such a brave and forthright condemnation of such idiocy. England

By Pat

December 3, 2007 6:40 AM | Link to this

Sadly, this is merely the final stages of the disease - Texas has long been suffering this infection, and it is now terminal. My youngest sister came to me to discuss biology after her teacher in New Braunfels refused to discuss evolution any further than mocking it openly in class with a nod and a wink, and disabusing her of the notion that it was part of biology when she tried to ask further questions.

So I did what any good brother would do and gave her part one of Larry Gonick’s “A Cartoon History of the Universe.” Considering she learned more in two days of reading a comic book than her entire time in the Texas education system, it’s pretty clear that the disease is end-stage, and the patient is in the process of having life support removed, being now obviously brain-dead.

By Richard Palmer

December 3, 2007 6:58 AM | Link to this

As a Massachusetts Citizen, all I can say is (how do you folks put it?) Yippee!. Thanks to the Taxas Education Agency for making the state look like a bad place to put Biotech Companies.

In any case, I’m sad that children anywhere are abused by people who feel they have a right to foist off lies and drivel like intelligent design on an education process. The voting adults of the state have themselves to blame for putting people with a political religious agenda in ANY position of authority. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

By Mark

December 3, 2007 7:28 AM | Link to this

There is a cultural fight underway for today’s children. Acquiescence and talking won’t win it. As an evolutionist I don’t get into religious/creationist/atheist/istist debates but the solution to this seems pretty straightforward. Don’t send your kids to this school. Boycott it. Tell your kids if they already go there that they may be told lies. They are your kids. Reward open, honest and fair schools with their attendance.

By Richard B. Drumm

December 3, 2007 8:40 AM | Link to this

Thank you, Austin American-Statesman, thank you! Ms. Comer was doing her job and got fired for it. Pure and simple. She should be reinstated immediately and Ms. Reynolds should be reprimanded. She should not be fired, though, tempting as that might be. She should be watched carefully, though. Proponents of Intelligent Design Creationism (thanks, Paul Burnett for linking Creationism to ID this way, I’ll pass it along) often call for IDC to be presented in science classes because it’s only fair to air all sides of the (supposed) debate. However science is not a democracy, it is a meritocracy (if you will) where only ideas with merit survive. IDC is not an idea of scientific merit and should not, therefore, recieve “equal time” in a science classroom. Again, thank you Austin Americal-Statesman for having the fortitude to stand up for what’s right! Good on ya! I have a brother, brother-in-law & sister-in-law in Austin, BTW. Richard B. Drumm

By redx

December 3, 2007 9:53 AM | Link to this

I think there is a pretty big difference between advocating a flawed and religiously motivated attack on science and rational thought, and giving someone 200 lashes for being raped(and then probably killed by male family members for bringing shame on them).

I don’t think the hyperbole helps either cause.