Shawn Vestal: Now more than ever, Idaho students need their science teachers

It’s a good thing there are science teachers in Idaho to stand between students and the designs of state lawmakers.

Otherwise, they might be getting the kind of “balanced” view of climate change that some members of the House Education Committee would like to see taught. You know – the view that “balances” science with faith and guessing and polluter-funded research. Based on the resistance in the House, an Idaho Senate stripped the subject of climate change and the consensus scientific view of the human role in it from new science standards for students in public schools.

In this case, the lawmakers did not adopt outright denialism as their mantra. No, they were just concerned teachers would not convey the bright side of climate change.

Rep. Scott Syme of Caldwell, a realtor with a bachelor’s degree in business, told IdEdNews.org, “What the curriculum that was written presented was mainly the adverse impacts and didn’t discuss what positive impact they can have on the environment. What I’m looking for is to have the public say, ‘Yeah, maybe we can see there was a one-sided presentation on the negative side and, hey, let’s talk about this and both sides of the issue.’ ”

Ah, yes. Both sides. Knowledge balanced with ignorance.

It’s the kind of balance that would bring young-earth creationism into a science class. The kind that would introduce intelligent design – a scheme that dresses creationism in the robes of science – as co-equal with the theory of evolution. The kind that would force a gym teacher to equate exercise with sloth, or a math teacher to open up a discussion about different possible answers to equations, or an English teacher to instruct classes that people who use quotation marks for emphasis just have a “different view.”

It’s the kind of balance that would be a serious disservice to science students in Idaho schools, who need more than ever to learn how to critically evaluate factual information.

The effort to rewrite the state’s science guidelines for graduating seniors comes after Idaho received scathing reviews for the inadequacy on this front. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute evaluated science standards nationwide in 2012 and gave Idaho an F, saying its standards were “remarkable in their almost total disregard for the essential content necessary to educate children in the sciences.”

The current debate, believe it or not, is the Legislature’s attempt to fix that.

Fortunately, teachers in Idaho are not required to follow the pronouncements of the doofi in Boise. Lawmakers updated standards across all subject matters, omitting the climate change items for further revision. The standards set minimum expectations for graduation but don’t proscribe limits, and so school districts and classroom teachers are free to teach real science.

For now.

The underlying dynamic is dangerous, though – scientifically ignorant ideologues wielding authority over the teaching of science. Whenever a lawmaker starts stepping in the direction of classroom management, whether it’s Syme and his pro-warming agenda or Washington lawmakers grandstanding about taking over university functions, people who care about education should be very wary.

The battle against science is not new, and it’s not going away. If anything, it’s entering a new golden age. Those who want to entrench climate change denial as merely one view among many aren’t going anywhere. Those who want to replace the judgment and knowledge of educators with the judgment and knowledge of part-time legislators with no expertise aren’t going anywhere. Those who believe that more religion in science class would be a good thing aren’t going anywhere. Those who cannot think clearly and critically about the difference between a mountain of peer-reviewed evidence and a mountain of cherry-picked propaganda aren’t going anywhere.

But they have no business setting standards for the kids whose future depends on telling the difference.

Last year, a similar set of standards that accurately addressed the human impact on the climate died somewhat quietly in the Legislature; apparent concerns included what to teach about the age of the earth.

One legislator quibbled with this phrase in the standards: “Human activities have significantly altered the biosphere.”

“Significantly?” the lawmaker, Twin Falls Republican Lance Clow, said during a hearing last February. “Compared to what?”

Hang in there, Idaho science teachers. Your students need you.