Greg Klaes, a science teacher at Lakenheath Middle School at RAF Feltwell, England, believes the teaching of evolution and creationism cannot co-exist in the same classroom. (Ron Jensen / S&S)
So far, the Department of Defense Education Activity is a bystander in the battle to teach an alternative to evolution in the science classroom.
“We have not been approached by people asking that we include creationism or intelligent design into the curriculum,” said Kim Day, who is in charge of the science curriculum for DODEA schools, where instruction in evolution is in line with national standards.
However, the battle is under way in at least 18 states to add either one or both alternatives to science lessons. Creationism accepts the Bible’s claim that the universe has changed little since God created it a few thousand years ago. Intelligent design suggests that nature’s complexity required some intelligent guiding hand.
In Maryland, a school board member was outvoted in his attempt to offer an alternative to evolution while Kansas residents are debating a proposal that intelligent design be added to the science curriculum.
A judge in Georgia recently ruled unconstitutional the two-year-old practice of placing stickers on science textbooks that claim evolution is a theory, not a fact. Debates continue in other states, all asking that Charles Darwin’s idea of evolution be placed alongside a more religious-based alternative.
Some parents of Department of Defense Dependent Schools students would like to see an alternative to evolution offered, but have made no attempt to force a curriculum change.
“If you’re going to allow [evolution] to be taught, use all of science,” said Maj. Mark Kerr of the 100th Logistics Readiness Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, England.
There is, he said, evidence that disproves evolution, but that proof is absent from the curriculum. He and his wife, Amy, send their kids to DODDS schools, but teach creationism at home.
Greg Klaes, a science teacher at Lakenheath Middle School at RAF Feltwell, England, said creationism and intelligent design have no place in his classroom.
“They are not science,” he said.
He said science is a search for truth. Creationists believe they have found the truth, he said, and intelligent design rules out the randomness of nature.
When his students bring up God’s role in anything scientific, Klaes said, “I explain to them that discussions about religion stop at the door frame.”
Staff Sgt. Josh and Denise Sandifer can cite several reasons why they teach their children at home, and evolution’s place in the DODDS curriculum is one of them.
“I don’t believe in evolution,” Josh Sandifer said. “I believe what the Bible teaches.”
Both Kerr and Sandifer, who is with the 100th Maintenance Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, said evolution is just a theory.
Klaes, however, said, “They’re misusing the vocabulary of science.”
Evolution is a scientific theory, which is more than just a guess, he said. Scientific theory refers to a collection of data that explain a phenomenon of nature.
For his part, Kerr sees little difference and said, “It’s almost as if [evolution] is a religion.”
