Textbook Anti-Evolution Sticker Goes

Doug · Post by **Doug** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 10:41 am

Evolution warnings don't stick
By Jenny Jarvie, Times Staff Writer
December 20, 2006

ATLANTA — A suburban school board has abandoned its four-year legal fight to place stickers in high school biology textbooks that say "evolution is a theory, not a fact."

In a settlement announced Tuesday in federal court, the Cobb County Board of Education agreed never to use any similar "stickers, labels, stamps, inscriptions or other warnings," or to undermine the teaching of evolution in science classes.

In turn, the parents who sued over the stickers — charging that they promoted religion in science classrooms and violated the separation of church and state — agreed to end all legal action.

"The parents brought the suit because they wanted their children to have proper instruction in science," said Debbie Seagraves, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. "It's pretty clear the parents in Cobb County got what they wanted."

...The sticker 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."

...Linwood Gunn, attorney for the school board, said the settlement was simply a practical matter: "This is really an effort by the school district to buy peace, not an admission that the sticker was unconstitutional."

The district has agreed to pay $166,659 to the plaintiffs, about a third of their legal fees.

Read the rest here.

Barbara Fitzpatrick · Post by **Barbara Fitzpatrick** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 7:09 pm

About time. The only thing those stickers show is that those who want them don't know enough about science to know what a scientific theory is.