Georgia schools to stick with 'evolution'
 

Remember what I posted in the evil bible thread about the state wanting to take “evolution” out of the schoools..well I read that over 11,000 people signed an online petition protesting the change; some said they would leave the state or remove their children from public schools.


Georgia schools to stick with 'evolution'
Associated Press
ATLANTA -- The thinking of Georgia's top school official has apparently evolved.
School Superintendent Kathy Cox dropped plans Thursday to remove the word "evolution" from Georgia's high school science curriculum, six days after the idea became public and brought criticism and ridicule.
"I want you to know today that I will recommend to the teacher teams that the word `evolution' be put back in the curriculum," she said in a statement.
Cox, a Republican elected in 2002, said she originally wanted to replace "evolution" with the phrase "biological changes over time" to avoid controversy. "Instead, a greater controversy ensued," she said.
Critics of the change included former President Carter and Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Perdue, also a Republican, said Cox's decision was the right thing to do. "As public officials, we don't have the luxury of thinking out loud," he said. "I believe that's what she was doing."
Carter, who teaches Sunday school at a Baptist church, had called Cox's proposal an embarrassment and said that teaching evolution does not conflict with religious faith.
Under the proposal, evolution still would have been taught to Georgia's 420,000 public high school students, and no textbook changes would have been required.
The draft of curriculum changes was posted last month on the state Education Department's Web site. The 13-member state Board of Education will vote on the changes in May.