AROUND THE STATES.

Oklahoma Textbook Panel Wants Evolution Warnings

The Oklahoma State Textbook Committee has voted to add disclaimers to public school biology textbooks cautioning students that evolution is a "controversial theory."

On Nov. 5, committee member John Dickman introduced the proposal, arguing that the textbooks under review focused too much on evolutionary biology. "Some of us on the committee wanted to send a strong statement to the publishers that we are fed up with textbooks that only present one side of the story," Dickman told the Tulsa World.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has warned officials that they are treading on constitutionally dubious ground. In a Nov. 11 letter to Secretary of Education Floyd Coppedge, AU Executive Director Barry Lynn observed, "It would be inappropriate and illegal for the public school system to alter its curriculum to appease adherents of one segment of Christianity.... This gambit should be rejected in Oklahoma."

It is unclear if the textbook committee has the authority to make the proposed change. The committee is responsible for reviewing texts for Oklahoma's 540 public school districts. While local districts have their own textbook committees, only books approved by the state panel may be purchased.

In related news, the Kanawha County Board of Education, home to West Virginia's largest school system, is scheduled to consider a proposal in December that would reverse a ban on teaching creationism in the community's public schools. The proposal, introduced by school board member Betty Jarvis, would nullify a 1987 policy that says, "creation science is not to be taught."

Parochial School Tax Credit Challenged In Illinois

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, along with eight other education and civil rights organizations, has filed a legal challenge to a new tuition tax credit law in Illinois.

Beginning in 2000, the measure provides Illinois taxpayer with up to $500 in income tax credits for money spent on tuition, book and lab fees at private or public schools.

The lawsuit, filed Nov. 4 in Sangamon County Circuit Court, questions the constitutionality of the law on the basis that it overwhelmingly benefits taxpayers who send their children to private religious schools. Specifically, the lawsuit contends that the law violates several sections of the Illinois Constitution. In addition, the suit contends that the tuition tax credit favor rich taxpayers over those with low incomes.

"This tax credit scheme is clearly designed to subsidize private religious education," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "We are optimistic that the courts will strike down this misguided program on constitutional grounds."

N.Y. Art Censorship Rejected By Federal Court

A federal court has ruled that New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani cannot legally punish the Brooklyn Museum of Art with budget cuts and eviction proceedings because of his opposition to a controversial exhibit.

In a 38-page ruling Nov. 1, U.S. District Court Judge Nina Gershon issued an injunction against the city ordering Giuliani to restore the museum's budget and end efforts to evict the institution from its current location.

"There is no federal constitutional issue more grave," Gershon observed, "than the effort by government officials to censor works of expression and to threaten the vitality of a major cultural institution as punishment for failing to abide by governmental demands for orthodoxy."

The controversy began in September when the museum opened an exhibit titled "Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection," featuring pieces some found offensive on religious grounds, including a painting of the Virgin Mary that includes an element of elephant dung.

Ten Commandments Controversy Erupts In Kentucky

Several counties in Kentucky have decided to ignore Supreme Court precedent and post the Ten Commandments in public schools. Officials in seven counties -- Rowan, Jackson, Harlan, Pike, Russell, Knott and Perry -- have either put the Decalogue on display or announced plans to do so.

To express support for government endorsement of the Commandments, thousands turned out for a "Restore the Law, Restore the Glory" rally in Corbin, Ky., on Nov. 7.

"We've been on the defensive long enough," Ferrel Morris, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Corbin, told the crowd. "It is time we got on the offensive."

The Corbin gathering was the first of several similar rallies. A statewide rally is scheduled Nov. 16 at Frankfort, followed by additional events Dec. 5 in Henderson and Dec. 12 in Bowling Green.

In 1980, the Supreme Court struck down a Kentucky law allowing public schools to post the Ten Commandments. In light of this precedent, legal observers expect the Kentucky counties involved with this controversy to be sued.

The activities in Kentucky coincide with an aggressive push on the part of Religious Right groups to have government endorse the Ten Commandments at every level. The Family Research Council, for example, has begun a national campaign it calls "Hang Ten," which encourages schools, courthouses, and other government buildings to post the Decalogue. As part of the effort, the FRC has distributed 100,000 Ten Commandments book covers to students and has gotten 44 members of the U.S. House of Representatives to agree to post the Commandments in their congressional offices.