The Idea of an Essay, Volume 2

140 thinking or finding scientific evidence to support their thoughts; and perverted evolution’s place in the scientific community. In Georgia, Selman v. Cobb Country School District resulted due to a sticker placed on textbooks referring to evolution as “a theory, not a fact.” The court deemed the sticker unconstitutional because only the religious consider evolution a theory while those in the scientific realm consider it a fact. By calling evolution a theory, the school sided with the religious side of the debate and promoted religion (Armenta & Lane, 2010, p. 78-79). Some schools have decided to discuss the flaws of evolution to help resolve disputes with intelligent design advocates in the community. Discovery Institute supports this teaching. In fact, they press for evolutionary textbooks to offer full coverage of evolution including its strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, they encourage “critical scrutiny” of the theory. Currently, three states have laws protecting teachers when they teach this material, and seven states require the teaching of scientific flaws or controversies; however, teachers must teach such flaws with a secular intent. If teachers have a purely secular intent, they are allowed to discuss other theories involving the origins of the earth as determined in Edwards v. Aguillard (Discovery Institute, 2013). Even after a plethora of court cases, the debate on the validity of evolution and intelligent design continues. Though disagreements and heated conversations still take place, teachers can feel secure when teaching the origins of the earth by understanding the court cases and the courts’ decisions. Courts have decided teachers must work to keep schools religiously neutral and material in appropriate classes. They require schools to prioritize student achievement and learning above the advancement of religion. Through these mandates, courts hope to help bring evolution and intelligent design into their appropriate places in the scientific classroom. References Armenta, T. & Lane, E. K. (2010). Tennessee to texas: Tracing the evolution controversy in public education. The Clearing House. 83(3), 76-79. Discovery Institute. (2013, Feb 11). Discovery’s science education policy. 27 Feb. 2014.