Posted: 05/30/2009 at 6:53pm | IP Logged

Don McLeroy needed at least  a two-thirds vote. He won the support of all 19 Senate Republicans, but 11 Democrats voted against him.

Young Earth Creationist Dumped as State School Board Chairman

by Gary Scharrer, The Houston Chronicle

AUSTIN, TX - In a rare rejection of an appointment by the Texas governor, the Senate Thursday ousted Don McLeroy as chairman of the State Board of Education, with his supporters claiming the Bryan dentist was the victim of his strong religious beliefs.

McLeroy is a devout Christian who believes in creationism and the notion that the Earth is about 6,000 years old. He has steadfastly argued that Texas students should be taught the weaknesses of evolution.

Earlier this year, the State Board of Education approved new science curriculum standards that changed a long-standing Texas tradition over how schoolchildren learn about evolution. The vote did away with a provision that Texas students be instructed on the strengths and weaknesses of evolution and the theory about the origin of life developed by Charles Darwin 150 years ago.

Democrats argued that McLeroy’s leadership has polarized the board, and that he has disregarded experts in the shaping of science curriculum standards and English, language arts and reading standards for 4.7 million Texas public school children.

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