If you haven’t heard of nutso Oklahoma legislator Sally Kern, you’ve missed someone who feels that science is controversial and wants to force gays into “treatment centers.” Her latest move: Christianizing Oklahoma’s science curriculum.
Think Progress reports: State Rep. Sally Kern (R) has proposed the second anti-evolution bill this year in Oklahoma. Entitled the “Scientific Education and Academic Freedom Act,” the bill, which will be first considered next month, would require the state and local authorities to “assist teachers to find more effective ways to present the science curriculum where it addresses scientific controversies” (which do NOT include evolution, according to every legitimate science organization) and permit teachers to “help students understand, analyze, critique, and review” the scientific strengths and weaknesses of “existing theories.” But the only topics mentioned in the bill as contestable are “biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning.” …Kern has frequently used Oklahoma’s education system as a prop for her grandstanding. As the Wonk Room’s Pat Garofalo points out, Kern fought vehemently against educational reforms to bolster Oklahoma’s chances in winning grants through the Race to the Top program, saying: “These are standards that are not American standards. ‘Race to the Top’ is Obama’s baby.” (How typical of a narrow-minded GOPer: Progress must be avoided at all costs. God preserve us from the ideas of an educated black man.)
I’m surprised that she didn’t mention theories around stem-cell research. Read more about the craziness here.
