Cobb Evolution Textbook Stickers Case Kicked Back To Lower Court

Via The Panda's Thumb.

Some incomplete schoolboard meeting minutes, and a missing petition, apparently constituted a sizeable enough gap in the evidentiary record that the 11th Circuit Board declined to rule. So back it goes to lower court. Now both sides will likely have at it again. But maybe not. The Kitzmiller case in Pennsylvania, which was resoundingly ruled in favor of evolution, may hover over any subsequent proceedings in Cobb.

I semi-live blogged the original 11th Circuit Court hearing here, late last year.

One thing that the casual news browser may not grasp at first glom is that the school board here was never trying to impose creationism on the students. Not directly, at least. The school board was trying to upgrade its science education, going from barely teaching evolution at all, to teaching evolution more fully, but putting these ridiculous "warning" stickers in the textbooks, to placate the fundamentalists parents. Which is to say, the policy was a consensus monster, with the (elected) board trying to please everyone.

Another thing folks might not know is that, while Georgia ranks near the bottom in education, Cobb County schools are generally above average, nationwide. Check it out.