Religious liberty advocates hailed the Texas Board of Education's decision not to retain Don McLeroy as chair, after his numerous failed efforts to insert creationist perspectives into the science curriculum. Governor Rick Perry though has thrown a wrench into the celebration by considering Cynthia Dunbar, an even more outspoken proponent of teaching creationism – and other religious beliefs – in school. The Houston Chronicle's Lisa Falkenburg is not amused.
Dunbar didn’t trust the very public schools she helps oversee with her own children; she home-schooled. And, in her recent book, One Nation Under God: How the Left is Trying to Erase What Made Us Great, calls the public education system a tyrannical, unconstitutional “subtly deceptive tool of perversion.”
To say the least, her appointment would go a long way in deepening the divide between the socially conservative faction and everybody else on the 15-person board. It would surely intensify the squabbling and solidify the state board’s status as a national laughing-stock.
The go-to organization for all things relating to Texas schools and religious freedom, the Texas Freedom Network has more on the controversy at their blog here, and a look at the state's upcoming debates over the social studies curriculum here.
