Revolution in evolution? The evolution vs. creationism controversy continues to influence public school curriculum.

• Author: Vitaska, Sara

Forty-five percent of Americans believe that God created human beings, close to their present day form, approximately 10,000 years ago. A third of Americans believe that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is a well-supported scientific theory. And a third of Americans consider themselves biblical literalists who believe that the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word, according to a 2004 Gallup Poll.

The famous "Monkey Trial" in 1925, ignited the modern day debate of teaching evolution in public schools. In a Tennessee courtroom, teacher John T. Scopes was convicted of teaching evolution in the classroom, then a violation of state law. The contentious value-ridden debate lay practically dormant, however, until the 1987 U. S. Supreme Court ruling that creationism is a religious belief and cannot be taught in public schools alongside evolution.

That historic ruling, stemming from a court case in Louisiana, subsequently paved the way for adopting new evolution-based science curriculum policies across the nation. Two states recently received national attention when their local school boards voted to modify their science curriculum to offer an alternative explanation to the scientific theory of evolution. Consequently, both the Cobb County School District in Georgia and the Dover Area School District in Pennsylvania are battling it out in court.

COBB COUNTY, GEORGIA

In 2002, the Cobb County School District, nestled in the suburbs of Atlanta, adopted the policy of placing disclaimer stickers in 13 middle and high school science textbooks. The disclaimers read: "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."

The stickers originated from Marjorie Rogers, a creationist who collected more than 2,000 signatures that led the school board to adopt the policy.

In response, a handful of parents, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, sued the school district arguing that the stickers promoted religion in public schools and therefore violated the U.S. Constitution's principle of separation of church and state. District Court Judge Clarence Cooper ruled in January that the disclaimers are unconstitutional and ordered the stickers removed at the end of this school year. The judge said that although the disclaimers do not directly mention or...