School Reform and Evolution

I may be an old widow woman celebrating life well into my 80’s, but I have always loved science and the wonderful gizmos that have resulted from the advancement of technology. I remember ice being delivered to our house via mule drawn wagon. I remember sitting around as a family listening to the radio long before there was television. Now, I totally take advantage of all the technology science has provided. I use a smart phone, I text, I tweet, I use a computer, I have an iPad, I blog, I have a microwave, a refrigerator, central heat and air, television, and yes, a minivan with a built in navigation system and a radio. If you are reading my blogs you too must enjoy all these scientific consumer gifts as well. We do not worry about the water coming out of our faucets, or that the electricity will cease to flow through our wires, or that the food we buy in the store is impure. We trust in science and the fruits of our efforts.


I do not know anyone who says, “I do not believe in television,” or “I do not believe in cell phones.” I know people who do not like or use television, or cell phones or computers. But it is a choice of palette, not a belief statement. Clearly if we could go back in time even 100 years with these gizmos we would be perceived as magicians. But, we know better. We have evidence that the gizmos work, a latent sense of the science behind their operation, and we use them all the time. When a computer crashes, we do not question our beliefs about computers, we question the operation of the technology itself.

And at the same time, I know people who hold firmly to deep beliefs that are contrary to what science tells us. I remain amazed at the mental gymnastics and cognitive dissonance that must occur for a belief to take precedence over reality. We have historically seen this, of course. Ask Galileo.

Forgive a few pedantic sentences, please, but it is necessary for us to speak a common language before I proceed. A hypothesis is an educated guess, a guess that can be disproven by observation and testing, but not proven. A scientific theory, however, summarizes a hypothesis or group of hypotheses that have been supported with repeated testing. A theory is valid as long as there is no evidence to dispute it. Therefore, theories can be disproven.

So, evolution is a scientific theory. We have hypothesized about it, tested, measured, observed and every time we confirm the theory of evolution. There have been no disproving measures. It is a theory around which repeated measures have confirmed the operation of the theory. To say “I do not believe in evolution” is tantamount to saying, “I do not believe in radio waves. I can’t see them and they are not mentioned in the Bible so they must not exist.” If that is where you are, then you have joined the ranks of those who persecuted Galileo for stating that planet earth was not the center of the solar system or the universe.

How about the current school reform movement? (By school reform movement I mean school choice, charter schools, vouchers, competition, accountability via high stakes testing, etc., etc.) What is it? A fact, a theory, a hypothesis? It is a belief system not grounded in any of the above, and therein lies the problem. If our hypothesis is school reform will improve educational outcomes for kids, then how many examples would you have to see to disprove that hypothesis? One. If one claims this a theory, meaning every time we have attempted school choice interventions they were all successful, how many examples would you have to see to disprove the theory? One. The very fact that politicos continue to divert money from public schools to optional schools, increase accountability, etc., etc. in the face of an array of dismal failures for these interventions to work plus the harm imposed on public schools implies to me we are dealing with folks who would have persecuted Galileo. It is a belief system, not a hypothesis or a theory. Both have been disproven hundreds of times. Therefore, it is a belief system.

Sadly, one cannot argue with someone who has a fallacious belief because the only arguments are facts and observation and those elements have little influence on those whose minds are made up. Hence, that is why we see the continued effort to dismantle public schools using formulas proven to not work. I could almost respect those who support such notions if they also argued that earth is the center of the solar system, the sun orbits around us, there are not radio waves, and computers are a tool of the devil because they are not mentioned in the Bible. At least their kookiness would be revealed to all.

Please vote Tuesday if you have not already. The forces of ignorance are strong and wealthy and organized. We must move forward, not entrench. Our beliefs are always important. It is our science that advances our society and it is our belief system that should morally judge our efforts.