Rio Rancho Opens Class Door to Debate

The Rio Rancho school board has brought the national debate over the origins of life to New Mexico classrooms.

Last Monday, the Rio Rancho Public Schools board adopted a policy that opens the door for discussion of alternates to evolution in science classes.

A national debate centering around a movement by mostly conservative and evangelical Christians questions the primacy of evolution to explain the origins of life.

The movement promotes either the teaching of intelligent design or requirements for teachers to acknowledge gaps in the science of evolution.

The term “intelligent design” is used to describe a primarily Christian belief that life forms are too complex to be explained solely by Darwinian evolutionary theory. It points to intentional creation, presumably by a divine creator.

Although the Rio Rancho policy does not specifically mention intelligent design, opponents flooded the boardroom before the vote, saying it was a way to slip religion into the district’s science curriculum. The policy’s critics called intelligent design a “pseudo- science.”

The policy was proposed by board mem- ber Don Schlichte, a pastor at Rio West Community Church. He emphatically denies the policy is a way to spread his religious beliefs or to force teachers to teach intelligent design. He says it will ensure students are following scientific principles of critical thinking.

“This is not pseudo-science as they claim,” Schlichte said Tuesday. “That is a bias that borders on arrogance. They should allow debate (about evolution) in the classroom.”

Some teachers at Monday’s meeting disagreed.

“Although vigorous discussion about highly controversial subjects is a mainstay of science, and has some place in the high school classroom, it is a disservice to our students to blur the distinction between what is accepted science and what is not,” Rio Rancho High School science teacher Jennifer Miyashiro read in a statement. “For that reason, I believe that teaching alternatives to evolutionary theory in the high school science classroom is counterproductive to producing scientifically literate students.”

The New Mexico American Civil Liberties Union has threatened to sue the first time a Rio Rancho teacher teaches intelligent design in science class.

Students learn about evolution usually during the second or third nine weeks of their sophomore years, according to 10th grade Rio Rancho High biology teacher Brian Wade. The time devoted to the topic depends on the teacher but is usually between one and two weeks, he said.

What exactly Rio Rancho’s new policy will look like when translated into a lesson plan remains a mystery.

RRPS Superintendent Sue Cleveland said Thursday the first thing she will do before giving any directive to teachers is meet with the board again.

“Because, to be honest, I’m a little confused,” she said. “I’m not sure what the board wants. There seems to be some confusion among board members.”

Cleveland said the next step would be to meet with science teachers to discuss the policy.

“But I can’t do that unless it is really clear what the policy says,” she said.

Schlichte said the policy means teachers will initiate discussions about alternative explanations concerning the origins of life. He said the nature of those discussions is not up to the board.

New Mexico Public Education Department spokeswoman Jennifer Chavez said the department has no plans to challenge Rio Rancho’s policy. Catherine Cross-Maple, deputy Cabinet secretary for the department, said local school boards have some autonomy when drafting policies.

“A local board can choose to supplement the required standards,” she said. “It’s a balancing act. They have to ask, does the supplementing with other local material still ensure they are teaching to state standards?”

There are limits, she said. Local board policies must follow state and federal laws. She said the state might raise concerns over separation of church and state issues if a local board required the teaching of intelligent design alongside evolution in science class.

The RRPS policy requires discussion of alternative ideas only and does not specify what those ideas have to be.

Rio Rancho policy

Here is the Rio Rancho Public Schools policy on the teaching of the origins of life:

“The Rio Rancho Board of Education recognizes that scientific theories, such as theories regarding biological and cosmological origins, may be used to support or to challenge individual religious and philosophical beliefs. Consequently, the teaching of science in public school science classrooms may be of great interest and concern to students and their parents.

“The Board also acknowledges the conditional trust parents place in public education, as well as the requirements of the Constitution and New Mexico education law, that the classroom not be used to indoctrinate students into any religious or philosophical belief system.

“Because of these concerns, this policy recognizes that the Rio Rancho Public Schools should teach an objective science education, without religious or philosophical bias, that upholds the highest standards of empirical science.

“Therefore, science teachers in Rio Rancho Public Schools will align their instruction with the district’s approved curricula and fully comply with the requirements of the New Mexico 2003 revised Science Content Standards, Benchmarks, and Performance Standards. Age-appropriate emphasis will be given to Strand I, Science Thinking and Practice; Strand II, The Content of Science; and Strand III, Science and Society. When appropriate and consistent with the New Mexico Science Content Standards, Benchmarks, and Performance Standards, discussions about issues that are of interest to both science and individual religious and philosophical beliefs will acknowledge that reasonable people may disagree about the meaning and interpretation of data.”