Science in the Bluegrass

Not everyone in Kentucky is an ignorant hillbilly, but there are some GOP lawmakers in the Bluegrass State who have done their part to help perpetuate that particular stereotype by suggesting we lower our academic standards in science. In other words, they want creationism to be taught alongside evolution in biology, and they want it stressed that evolution is "just a theory."

Sigh.

The last thing Kentucky students need is to have their science education standards lowered. They deserve a chance to be on a level playing field with kids from other states and countries. When I hear comments on this event by those outside of Kentucky, asking things like "what else would you expect from a state with a Creation Museum?" it makes me incredibly defensive. But it's kind of hard to defend my home state when some of our lawmakers actually want our students less educated than the national standards dictate.

This morning I watched this very timely video by Bill Nye (the "Science Guy"!) in which he expresses his views on teaching evolution.

Nye pleads, "And I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution and live your life in a world that's completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that's fine. But don't make your kids do it because we need them. We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future."

Amen.