Last month, a Modesto science teacher announced at a back-to-school night that he would teach the theory of intelligent design alongside evolution. Modesto City Schools district officials say that will not happen.
-- From "Modesto science teacher's plan to teach intelligent design sparks debate" by Nan Austin, The Modesto Bee 9/26/10
. . . Roosevelt Junior High teacher Mark Ferrante, [is] the instructor who last month told parents of his intention at back-to-school night. Ferrante did not answer e-mails seeking comment.
"He will not be teaching intelligent design. He has been instructed to teach the state standards and intelligent design is not in the state standards," Modesto City Schools spokeswoman Emily Lawrence said last week.
The administration hews to the official policy, set by the board a decade ago, of not teaching intelligent design. Today, as then, the Modesto City Schools board is divided on the issue.
"The current curriculum states that the evolution of man, Darwinism, must be taught as a theory. I feel we do our students a disservice by not helping them become critical thinkers when we forbid the teaching of competing scientific theories, such as intelligent design," trustee Nancy Cline said in an e-mail.
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