By: R. Murray-o'hair Re: CO School/Creationism COLORADO SCHOOL CHARGED WITH TEACHING CREAT

By: R. Murray-o'hair
Re: CO School/Creationism

COLORADO SCHOOL CHARGED WITH TEACHING CREATIONISM

School Also Wanted to Fire Teachers for Extramarital Sex

by Conrad Goeringer

   A Northglenn, Colorado, school faces allegations that teachers at the
Academy of Charter Schools provided students with material which teaches
religion, specifically the doctrine of "creationism." The parent has
asked to not be identified for fear that her child would be harassed,
a common occurrence when First Amendment violations are challenged in
public school systems.

   Creationism is a religious doctrine which teaches that a god created
the universe and all life as depicted in the biblical accounts.
Creationism argues that the earth is relatively young; it differs from
the scientific theory of evolution that says humans and other living
entities evolved over time from simpler life forms.

   Creationists often look for alleged discrepancies in evolutionary
theory, but the doctrine ultimately rests on a literal interpretation of
biblical lore.

   A district school board president says that she was "appalled" at the
creationist materials, and the school managed insisted that religion is
not part of the curriculum.  The materials in question were apparently
not part of the approved supplementary course readings; allegedly, the
teacher who used the creationist hand out told the students to "ignore"
references to a god.

   Excerpts from the materials were published recently by the Rocky
Mountain News. One text advanced the suggestion that weather was
controlled by god. "God designed winds to carry excess heat away from the
tropical regions and toward the poles.  According to the wise plan of the
Creator, this transfer of heat not only balance [sic] out the uneven
distribution of the sun's warmth on the Earth, but it also produces the
clouds and system of weather that water Earth."

   Another text instructed students to reject evolutionary scenarios in
favor of biblical literalism. Titled "Composition: Creativity and
Craftsmanship," it warned "LOOK CLOSELY -- Careful students are always on
the alert for expressions like 'millions of years ago' and others which
show the writer believes the false idea that life on earth just happened
to evolve over a period of millions and millions of years.  Even some
writers for encyclopedias have been fooled by these thoughts because they
do not accept what the Bible says..."

   Students were admonished to "...read articles which are evolutionary,
compare Them to what the Bible says and find the real truth.  Then write
the truth, not just what the encyclopedia says."

   School board members have called for an investigation into the
charges; if they prove true, members say they will call for the charter
to be revoked.    Academy has had trouble maintaining its license before.
In December, the charter was revoked after finding that a number of state
and federal regulations had been violated.  And negotiations between the
school and the educational boards broke down last week, because Academy
wanted to include a proviso in the teachers' contract that would fire
instructors  if there was "evidence of sexual behavior outside holy
wedlock or legal matrimony."

                             --30--