A bid to teach creationism as science in Texas is facing extinction. Raymund Paredes, commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, today recommended that the Institute for Creation Research not be allowed to offer a Masters of Science degree in Science Education.

The ICR teaches that the earth was created in a week and that it is 6,000 years old.

Paredes made his recommendation before the Coordinating Board's Academic Excellence and Research Committee. On Thursday the 9-member Coordinating Board will meet to take a final vote on the Commissioner's recommendation.

Three participants spoke in favor of ICR's application: a radio announcer with a science background, a military officer, and a tax attorney. Seven folks spoke against authorizing ICR to grant degrees. Among them were several science teachers and two representatives of science education organizations: the Science Teacher's Association of Texas and the Texas Academy of Science.

Commissioner Paredes said in a press release that he based his recommendation on two considerations: ICR failed to demonstrate that the proposed degree program meets acceptable standards of science and science education, and the proposed degree is inconsistent with Coordinating Board rules that require the accurate labeling or designation of programs.

Dr. Henry Morris, president of the ICR, told the Observer he was not surprised by Paredes' recommendation. Morris said there has been an "intensity of resistance from the academic community toward creationism in the last year in Texas." He cited the dismissal of Texas Education Agency employee Chris Comer, the upcoming review of TEKS and critical thinking standards for Texas schools, and the pro-creationism movie "Expelled" as topics that had generated media attention and public debate in the last year.

Morris said if the Board votes to uphold the Commissioner's recommendation, the Institute will appeal the decision in the next 45 days. If the appeal is denied, Morris said, the Institute may take its case to the Texas Supreme Court. "We were denied the right to operate in California and we went through a lengthy and onerous court case before we won," he said. "It's an option that we will consider in Texas if we are denied."

Morris said the real issue at hand is "whether science can tolerate a different presumption about the beginning point of creation."

The ICR attorney said it was a question of freedom of speech and the Constitution that the Institute should be granted the authority to teach science in Texas.

Steven Schafersman, who testified against ICR at the hearing, said he thought Commissioner Paredes had made a "decisive and strong decision based on sound reasoning."

"The ICR attorney said it was about fair play and free speech, but I disagree," Schafersman said. "They have the right to teach whatever they want, but not the right to have the state grant them the authority to teach pseudoscience."

There's always home schooling…