Speaker of the House supports Darby objective origins
By JENNY JOHNSON Staff Reporter
A high-ranking Montana Legislator spoke out recently in support of Darby School District's proposed objective origins policy.
Speaker of the Montana House of Representatives Doug Mood wrote the school board affirming its decision to adopt the objective origins science policy that calls for teachers to question the theory of evolution.
The policy passed a first reading earlier this year but has yet to see a second reading or adoption. It's also the source of a threatened lawsuit and public controversy.
"Darby School Board's proposed objective origins policy is encouraging exactly the kind of critical discipline that should be a part of any teaching of science," Mood wrote.
The issue has divided the town and drawn hundreds of comments in three nights of public hearing before the board accepted it 3-2.
Mood supported the policy on its merits and the board on its right to supervise and control district affairs.
"We do today's students an injustice if we do not teach them to look at what they are currently being taught as being subject to challenge and change," he said. "To do otherwise is to teach science as dogma, which it clearly is not."
Mood pointed to the Montana Constitution which outlines the role of school district trustees: "The supervision and control of schools in each school district shall be vested in a board of trustees to be elected as provided by law."
To maintain accreditation however, districts must comply with guidelines set forth by the Montana Department of Education.
"Having sat in the Legislature for the past four sessions I have learned that everything is arguable," Mood wrote. "But when the Constitution gives the local school boards 'supervision and control,' that would seem pretty conclusive."
Mood is the first elected official to come out in support of the policy. Superintendent of Public Instruction Linda McCulloch and an attorney at the Montana School Boards Association have questioned the legality and sense of the policy without approval from the state over curriculum that would support the policy.
Reporter Jenny Johnson can be reached at 363-3300 or jjohnson@ravallirepublic.com
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