Texas Education Agency and Chris Comer, Part 5

The Comer situation continues to attract attention since the story broke at the end of last week. Today sees multiple newspaper editorials about the situation, both nationally and within Texas.

The New York Times has an editorial on the resignation of Chris Comer. In part:

Ms. Comer’s dismissal and comments in favor of intelligent design by the chairman of the state board of education do not augur well for that review. We can only hope that adherents of a sound science education can save Texas from a retreat into the darker ages.

Today also brings an editorial in the Waco Tribune. In part:

We can only hope that the state school board is not so inclined as to turn discussions of evolution, as with the greenhouse effect, into the picking of nits that completely undermines and ignores the immense science backing both biological facts.

Then there's the Corpus Christi Caller-Times editorial, which might have the best title: "Official forced out for telling the truth on intelligent design." It reads in part:

Education officials say that Comer should have been neutral on evolution. What a shame. Instead of supporting teachers as defenders of truth and scientific inquiry, apparently state education officials want educators to perpetuate an academic scam on the state's schoolchildren in service to special interests.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the paper that broke the story, the Austin American-Statesman, was the first to have an opinion:

Whether one accepts the theory of intelligent design or not, discussion encourages scientific exploration, which is what a science curriculum director should do. Forcing Comer out of her job because she passed on an e-mail about the critic’s presentation is egregiously wrong.

I've been hard-pressed to find anyone who is seeing anything in this situation besides dodgy politics meddling in education for religious reasons.