June 18, 2003

Creationism a topic before standards committee forms

Even before the committee that will draft Minnesota’s new science standards has been assembled, creationism has already become news.

WCCO Channel 4 News in the Twin Cities has posted a story on its web site about the drafting of new standards, which mentions the potential upcoming controversy over the science standards.

The complete story can be found here. [Link has expired]

The article states: "[Commissioner of Education, Dr. Cheri Pierson Yecke] said the state standards shouldn't address creationism, which is based on the belief that God created the world in six days. The other main theory, evolution, describes development of life on Earth from single-celled organisms over about 3.5 billion years."

However, in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio on June 9, 2003, Dr. Yecke stated that she believes “every local district should have the freedom to teach creationism if that is what they choose.”