Louisiana Coalition for Science

By Barbara Forrest

In June 2009, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) received dozens of letters from concerned teachers, scientists, and citizens all over Louisiana asking them to reject a creationist-influenced policy governing the implementation of the creationist Louisiana Science Education Act (LSEA) of 2008. This law, written by the Louisiana Family Forum with assistance and legal advice from the Discovery Institute, permits the use of creationist supplementary materials in public school science classes. Several months later, in January 2009, BESE adopted the policy by which local school districts must implement the LSEA, gutting the prohibitions against teaching creationism that had wisely been written into the policy by the Dept. of Education on the advice of expert science teachers and scientists on the specially constituted Louisiana Science Education Act Advisory Committee. The policy was inserted as §2304, “Science Education,” into Bulletin 741 [doc], the Louisiana Handbook for School Administrators, to instruct parish and local school officials concerning the implementation of the LSEA. First, however, the policy had to be posted in the Louisiana Register for public comment (April 2009 [pdf], pp. 740-741). BESE received public comments in the form of letters from citizens, teachers, and scientists who support teaching science honestly and accurately. BESE ignored their letters, and the policy is now in effect. In January 2010, Louisiana begins the new year burdened with not only a creationist law implemented by a creationist policy, but now also a creationist complaint procedure that will turn every complaint about supplementary materials into a dog and pony show rather than a serious consideration of materials being used in a science class.

In September 2009, BESE adopted a complaint procedure which, like the implementation policy written by the Louisiana Dept. of Education, was also revised to suit the Louisiana Family Forum. Like the policy, the complaint procedure has been posted for public comment in the Louisiana Register (November 2009 [pdf], pp. 2590-91). In response to this posting, letters were sent to BESE by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the National Center for Science Education, and Barbara Forrest. The letter from Dena Sher, AU State Legislative Counsel, is here [pdf]. The letter from NCSE Executive Director Eugenie Scott is here [pdf]. (See NCSE’s article, “NCSE Advises Louisiana,” here.) The letter from Barbara Forrest is here [pdf].

BESE has consistently — and unanimously — supported the Louisiana Family Forum’s creationist revisions to the areas of the LSEA that are under its purview. The board has been fully informed by concerned citizens and organizations that it is doing the bidding of documented creationists. Louisiana citizens should download copies of the above letters, distribute them to their parish school board members, and let the board members know that they do not want creationist supplemental materials adopted for use in their public schools. When some school board or individual science teacher walks through the giant creationist loopholes in the policy and complaint procedure, it will be with the explicit consent of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, who refused to listen to their own staff at the Dept. of Education and to the teachers and scientists who actually do the work of educating students. BESE members cannot say that they did not know what they were doing. We have told them — twice.