Evolution Challenged in Maine School District
A school administrative director in Maine has come under attack and ridicule recently for his recent urging that evolution be dropped from the curriculum in schools.
Matthew Linkletter, director of School Administrative District 59 in Somerset County, claims that no theory – neither evolution nor creationism – should be taught in schools if it cannot be proven.
"You can't show, observe or prove [evolution]," Linkletter said in a statement.
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David Connerty-Marin of Maine's Department of Education, however, countered Linkletter's stance, claiming that evolution should continue to be taught in schools because it is based on "proven science," and is part of the state mandated curriculum.
"For our students to be prepared for college work and life in the 21st century, it's necessary. Evolution is not just a belief, or based on faith, it's based on scientific evaluation. The worldwide science community supports it," he said.
Town Manager Norman Dean of Madison, one of the locations where the instruction of evolution has been challenged, also criticized Linkletter, adding that his opposition to evolution was "absolutely stupid."
Linkletter's opposition, however, has come at a time when the "Evolution Academic Freedom" legislation – which allows for the public criticism of the tenets of Darwinism in public schools – advances under review in four states.
Lawmakers in Louisiana, Missouri, Alabama, and Michigan are currently considering options to change or modify the instruction of evolution in schools that would allow students to challenge and "think critically" concerning Darwinism.
"The evolution concept is a theory, and not provable. If the science department at Madison High (a school in Somerset County) is simply teaching theory, then you ought to leave it in the science department," said Roy Blevins, pastor at the Church of the Open Bible in Athens, Maine.
Linkletter's arguments will be examined for review by school district directors on May 19.
