O'CONNELL: NO CHANGE IN SCIENCE 'INTELLIGENT DESIGN' NOT TAUGHT.Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell
Jack T. O'Connell (born October 8, 1951) is a California politician. struck out Wednesday against ``intelligent design'' - the belief that an intelligent being was responsible for the origin of the universe - vowing to fight ``tooth and nail'' to keep its teaching out of California's public schools. Dozens of other states are considering measures to teach intelligent design as an alternatives to evolution. Support for the concept has been gaining momentum since President George W. Bush said it should be taught in schools and a Pennsylvania court is hearing a legal challenge to teaching it in science classes. But O'Connell told a news conference he has no intention of allowing it to be taught in California's public schools. ``This is designed to be a pre-emptive pre·emp·tive or pre-emp·tive adj. 1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of preemption. 2. Having or granted by the right of preemption. 3. a. message to stay the course and continue to adhere and teach to our world-class science standards, which are developed to prepare students for the global economy,'' O'Connell said. ``I'd fight tooth and nail to protect our high academic standards and to ensure sound science is protected in our classrooms.'' For intelligent design to be taught in California schools, a curriculum change would first have to be adopted at the state level. Randy Thomasson, president of the nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. Campaign for Children and Families Campaign for Children and Families (CCF) is a nonprofit promoting socially conservative public policy in California. Their president is Randy Thomasson, who also founded Campaign for California Families, which won against Gavin Newsom for illegally issuing marriage licenses to , said his group would like intelligent design to be taught in California's public schools in the interest of academic honesty. ``To keep it out is anti-education.'' Thomasson said. ``You can't just tell children that they come from monkeys and to forget all about any other theory for how life began and the incredible design of the universe and the human body.'' But critics rail against the theory, saying that intelligent design is simply creationism creationism or creation science, belief in the biblical account of the creation of the world as described in Genesis, a characteristic especially of fundamentalist Protestantism (see fundamentalism). in disguise. Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. board member Jon Lauritzen, whose wife and daughter are science teachers, echoed the sentiments of the majority of the board, saying he is opposed to embracing the concept in public schools. ``I have no problem with individual teachers who want to discuss intelligent design as part of an overall philosophical discussion. But I certainly would not support the teaching of it as part of our curriculum,'' he said. While there are no organized efforts to introduce intelligent design to Los Angeles schools The Los Angeles School of Urbanism is an academic movement emerged during the mid-1980s, loosely based at the University of Southern California and UCLA, that poses a challenge to the dominant Chicago School of Urbanism. , some fear that the movement, which is funded heavily by various conservative Christian groups, is a viable threat. ``I think that the ultra-conservative religious right has gained so much power in this country, they feel they can rewrite re·write v. re·wrote , re·writ·ten , re·writ·ing, re·writes v.tr. 1. To write again, especially in a different or improved form; revise. 2. all the facts of evolution and complete their agenda of having creationism taught along with evolution,'' said A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , which represents Los Angeles' 50,000 public school teachers. Naush Boghossian, (818) 713-3722 naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com |
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