Global warming appears to be the new "evolution" controversy for school districts

[mnhtnbb]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003526592_federalway16m.html


A philosophical fist fight has broken out in the Federal Way School District days after the School Board put all classroom showings of the global warming movie "An Inconvenient Truth" on hold.

There is no discussion of banning the movie. But ban or no ban, word of the board's decision last week to impose a "moratorium" on it made national news.

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Board members said the controversy began after a district newsletter noted that teachers could obtain free copies of the film for classroom use. Several parents objected to this, and at least one raised a concern about an upcoming showing of the film at Lakota Middle School, questioning whether the seventh-grade science teacher there would present alternative view points.

"An Inconvenient Truth" features former Vice President Al Gore discussing the science behind the theory that global warming is caused by humans. Some parents objected to the film for political or religious reasons.

At its meeting last week, the board suspended all classroom viewings until district Superintendent Tom Murphy could confirm that the district's existing policies on materials that contain "bias" were being followed.

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Two district policies apply in this case. The first requires that teachers get approval from their principals before they show any movie in class.
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The second states that, "when it is necessary to use historical or literary works, periodicals, and technical journals which show bias, staff members have a responsibility to point out the biases, and present additional information and perspectives to balance those biases."

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But policy was not followed at Lakota. Murphy said the science teacher had not gotten prior approval to show the film. Frosty E. Hardison, a parent at Lakota who complained to the board, said he believes the Bible predicted global warming. But he also said he was not seeking a ban on the film — only a healthy classroom debate of different scientific views, like the theory that global warming is a naturally occurring phenomenon.

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On the other side of the debate, Chris Carrel, another parent at Lakota, said he could not believe the board had even classified the film as having a bias. He said the science clearly points to global warming as a phenomenon caused by humans.

The board bowed too quickly to a few loud voices of opposition, he said, without giving the larger community the chance to respond.

"When we have thousands of the world's foremost scientists telling us that our kids are going to be living in an unprecedented global warming, then I think they should know the basics of it," said Carrel, executive director of the Friends of the Hylebos, a group dedicated to preserving the Hylebos Creek watershed in Federal Way.

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It appears that the fundies, who can't stand any science, are using the their same old tired Biblical references to repudiate the science found in Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth". To them, anything that is science, is biased.

Have DU'ers found this controversy in their local school districts?

[caraher]

1. Not exactly this...

I have seen the "it's Al Gore, you can't show something political" complaints - and some teachers choosing to screen stuff like "The Day After Tomorrow" instead. This is in Indiana "Bush Country"