"Enrollment has been dropping steadily as timber jobs have dried up, and Oregon's budget cuts have left Myrtle Point facing a $675,000 gap for next year. Since Oregon bases its state school funding on enrollment, every home-schooled child Myrtle Point can woo means an extra $5,000 or so. An estimated 100 youngsters living in the district are home-schooled. In Myrtle Point, the district is trying to phase in some courses that could prove particularly appealing to home-school parents, such as forestry, ecology and computer science.
"Superintendent Robert Smith said the school system is also willing to adjust the curriculum — for example, by allowing discussion of creationism in biology class, or biblical literature in English courses. 'We're not setting up a church steeple. But students want academic freedom enough to encourage different things, and that should not be stifled by relying on exclusive treatments,' Smith said."
[I'm all for discussing creationism in biology class, as long as it stays a biology class - which means that the best arguments for creationism are offered, then demonstrated to be false. I'm all for biblical literature in English courses, as long as the Bible is not presented as fact but one set of stories that influenced others. But it is a grave error to think that creationism is a matter of academic freedom or non-exclusivity - it is just plain false.]
Post a Comment