Americans United Blasts Ouster Of Texas Educator For Supporting Soun
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November 30, 2007
Americans United Blasts Ouster Of Texas Educator For Supporting Sound
Science
Church-State Watchdog Group Calls On Officials To Rehire Staffer
Forced Out For Noting Lecture Criticizing 'Intelligent Design'
Officials with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) should rehire a
science curriculum expert who was forced to resign after she notified
people about a lecture critical of "intelligent design" (ID), says
Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Chris Comer, director of science curriculum, was pushed out after she
circulated an e-mail mentioning that a leading scholarly critic of ID,
the latest variant of creationism, would be speaking in Texas. Comer
sent a notice about the talk as an "FYI."
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United,
blasted officials at TEA and called on them to promptly reinstate Comer.
"It's a sad day when a science expert can lose her job merely for
recommending that people hear a speaker defend sound science," Lynn
said. "Officials in Texas seem intent on elevating fundamentalist
dogma over academic excellence and common sense."
Lizzette Reynolds, a former staff member at the U.S. Department of
Education now working for TEA as a senior adviser, played a key role
in Comer's ouster. She responded to Comer's e-mail about the ID
lecture by urging Comer's bosses to fire her.
The Austin American-Statesman reported that Reynolds' message said,
"This is highly inappropriate. I believe this is an offense that calls
for termination or, at the very least, reassignment of
responsibilities. This is something that the State Board, the
Governor's Office and members of the Legislature would be extremely
upset to see because it assumes this is a subject that the agency
supports."
Lynn noted that the lecture on ID was to be given by Barbara Forrest,
who serves on the Americans United Board of Trustees. She is an
acknowledged expert on intelligent design. Coauthor of the book
Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design, Forrest
served as an expert witness in a federal lawsuit in Dover, Pa., that
struck down the teaching of ID.
"By noting Forrest's talk, Comer was simply doing her job: alerting
people to a resource they might find useful," Lynn said. "I am
appalled at this action by TEA and urge officials to immediately
correct this gross injustice."
Read the press release:
http://www.au.org/site/R?i=EHOjRwxGMMssMlUZMnuz1g..
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Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in
Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans
about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding
religious freedom.
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