joining me is that cop one he's a student at rice university he's been
leading the fight against creationism in louisiana with the support of seventy
eight noble laureate scientists exactly this is it's great to talk to you i
think the best place to start first is
what are we talking about when we talk about
creationist vouchers
okay also creations but they certainly are almost thank you so much
but gracious vouchers or school voucher program
that prides public funding to these private schools the spies were taken
from our public schools
anger to private schools and the schools are teaching creationism some of them
are bringing their students to the creation you sam
my favorite school that highlighted is the school florida
uh... that calls evolution the way he then
bombay authentication of the sixth as usual
a school my home state of louisiana
is op teaching that scientists are simple man
uh... and that they don't believe there is going to be resolved in dublin
revolution
and so i've found frequently schools across the country
and i expect that there are hundreds or maybe two thousand morally schools and
programs nationwide so this is this is essentially
and cover man
tax funding really
for a teaching creationism
in private schools that that's really what we have fewer bits it only takes a
couple of steps we don't have to drug we have to connect to many dots to see that
that's what's going on here
not all had sustained or
not all set with three steps
uh... they are it's government-funded
private schools teaching creationism
so he talked about your home state of louisiana louisiana's interesting
because we also talked recently about any
resolution that took place
that uh... ought to be that was that was in louisiana which actually said that we
are we are not going to allow creationism to be topic remind me that
was just in one parish right i mean louisiana seems to have they they said
they seem to have individual people that seem to be thinking critically but more
broadly we've got a big education problem there
so that was actually specifically in reference to nuts about trees but to our
states creation small
right now to states
uh... louisiana and tennessee
have creationism laws
louise has passed in two thousand eight and i've been fighting it since two
thousand ten
and tennessee's passed last spring and was modeled after louisiana's
as though this plot does is it allows
supplemental materials
exercise classes pretty things like evolution and climate change
because their potentially controversial and teachers might not know how to
address that best the
rationale behind slobs supposedly helpful critical thinking
now these theories primelocation evolution
are not controversial to the scientists all the scientific evidence is behind
them the overwhelming majority of scientists
stoller understand that these theories are fundamental to
their fields of science and we should teach them
but here they are controversial too
louisiana and now tennessee politicians
and so whether people can do now is without any abilene without anyone
knowing at all
the teacher can bring is their classroom
based attack or some of the material
that says evolutions atrial or
if this is that there's always something anything they want
intently to a degree something that's likely to reality checks their classroom
small also brought
uh... or astrology
well you can really started to an astronomy class
he still wind when you went to school when you were in high school did you go
to a place that tot creationism and what was the scene like for you
luckily i went to a public magnet school at all my teachers were absolutely great
without the thing that's partly really davis paul was my senior year bicycles
or for that
i don't know about the wall
when it first pass the space as well
and i really couldn't believe my governor brown diversify alone to make
sure actually signed it
i was wrong
bob and i was i was curious about it
it took me two years to realize i couldn't really
stand up in a meaningful way
and that by and that the smallest actually being used as actually
dangerous when i was wondering sir parish
the summer of twenty ten
their school school board everyone does it really know parishes article account
is that where else
in louisiana
this will work out the other discussed how they could use a slot blot distant
allowed teachertube recreation sublets materials in class
but actually make
that entire part of this ice fertile about creationism
they said the law was for will critical thinking creationism right
and one of their school board members said something about like we don't want
litigation but would you take a stand for jesus name
rest litigation anywhere
they don't really
talk a lot about three traces of it
as part of curriculum
and that that's the six i think it's not just
but teachers use you're not this is they tried to
but they theory revolution they creationism
uh... good
it'd put creationism as a real part of the cricket every school district right
purpose so that was created and see that happen so you've got this list that
might be stayin in in the article that that i had that i've read that you wrote
that this could potentially disputed to the iceberg is by pretty widespread but
what really can be done any as it stands there's nothing illegal about this
yes so
we'll get back to the voters now and my pop out
the fact is that this first as we sort of standard bleeding
so jr
not eleven states in the district of columbia without your programs in their
state some of them have been put on
one of the time junction one ed that's colorado ones unconstitutional to
continue and that's my home state of louisiana so that when those are as they
are
but other states
texas
tennessee or try to pass out for programs i think when you stand up
eventually start up past other states indiana wisconsin
they discussed it spending about two programs when you make sure this doesn't
happen
and so that's the that's beginning and i think we'll start rolling back the
existing programs
well how do how do you do it right i mean in other words what's the what
needs to happen logistically for that for them to take place
well brief overall sort outfitted
but i think with louisiana
is
right now there's a constitutional provisionally c_n_n_ that says
private schools that are publicly proofing
able to receive public money all have to have creek about these people to opt
the better public schools
and now
the curriculum in these private schools clearly politician traces of doesn't b
the public school
the curriculum that they need to get public money rights
i didn't see any other patent
city officials in louisiana to
all to take out these bad schools
that don't meet
their constitutional standards
and also
do you don't have those days in these programs
that these officials are themselves
and so
i think we keep the pressure on things like that where
disclosure reject racism the kitty
they are not allowed to be a week
we and bring it to blamed and we asked our public officials to remove these bad
schools personally i am not like these programs at all i think it'd be shut
down because is very hard
i discovered twenty schools
in louisiana and so this summer i was urging
by officials to release twenty schools
but i i imagine this thirty forty or schools in this program
teaching creationism and ab advertised on their website or call newspapers
about which is where we were really found the ones we did right and then and
then we wonder why that the u_s_ is falling so far behind in science and
math and so on and so forth it's it's incredible but you're doing great work
we've been speaking with that cop when he's a student at rice university
and he working people learn more about this journal websites act
and web site at two websites first is on the repeal creationism africa we c_n_n_
that's repeal creationism dot com
and the second website is create a specialist dot com
said we have people that they spoke every trace this back to school in the
country we've discovered it's up to three hundred eleven l
and you can go on there to read
well the teaching well with highlighted that's saying that we think
there's a dead giveaway
days u_s_
comp
or you you can actually see the highlights on up it was a risk ratio
on msnbc on their website and we highly zombie most egregious pools for them
and put it up online
possums acting so much
thank you so much