Indiana Teaching creationism clears key legislative panel

By Tom Davies Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana's public schools would be allowed to teach creationism in science classes under a bill endorsed Wednesday by a state Senate committee. The Senate Education Committee voted 8-2 in favor of the bill despite experts and some senators saying teaching creationism likely would be ruled unconstitutional if challenged in court. Committee Chairman Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, said he sponsored the bill because he believes creationism should be taught among the theories on the development of life and that the proposal wouldn't force any changes in schools teaching evolution. "This is a local option and the local school board decides," Kruse said. Purdue University science education professor John Staver told the committee that federal courts have repeatedly found that teaching creationism violates church-state separation because of its reliance on the Bible's Book of Genesis. Staver said he believed any school district that started teaching creationism would face lawsuits they would likely lose. "All that the citizens of Indiana are going to get from this bill are wasted legal efforts, lawyer fees and penalties," Staver said. Sen. Scott Schneider, R-Indianapolis, maintained that there are legitimate questions about the theory of evolution and that many scientists agree with the concept of intelligent design, the theory that life on Earth is so complex it was guided by an intelligent higher power. "What are we afraid of? Allowing an option for students including creation science as opposed to limiting their exposure?" Schneider said. Some committee members suggested that they would support amending the bill in the full Senate to instead encourage schools to teach about the world's religions in literature or history classes. Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, voted in favor of the bill even though it called its current form a "lawyer's dream." Kruse said he knew of nothing in current state law that prohibited public schools from teaching creationism. The committee on Wednesday also approved bills that would require public schools to teach cursive writing and largely prohibit them from starting their school years until late August, sending both to the full Senate for consideration. The debate over the teaching of cursive writing started after the state Department of Education in April dropped it as a required part of school curriculum in favor of keyboard proficiency. It is unclear whether any schools have stopped teaching cursive writing. The bill that sets a school start date of no earlier than the fourth Monday of August is a change from an earlier version that aimed to prevent schools from starting until after Labor Day. Published: Fri, Jan 27, 2012