The science books used by teachers like Julie Davis, shown here at the front of an Edison High School biology class, could carry an "acknowledgement that human life was created by one God of the universe" under legislation passed Wednesday by the Oklahoma House of Representatives. 
JOE IVERSON/Tulsa World 

House: Acknowledge God

 Three amendments, including the creation statement, were added Wednesday to a bill dealing with the membership of the textbook committee.

 The House passed the amended bill 99-0 and returned it to the Sen ate. It will be assigned to a conference committee for further modifications.

 The intent of Senate Bill 1139 by Rep. Barbara Staggs, D-Muskogee, was to require that two of the four members who are appointed each year to the committee be certified elementary teachers and that two others be certified secondary teachers.

 The House approved by voice vote an amendment to that bill by Rep. Jim Reese, R-Nardin, regarding the creation of human life by God being acknowledged in science texts.

 The amendment comes after Attorney General Drew Edmondson issued an opinion saying the textbook committee did not have the authority last year to require textbook publishers to place in biology textbooks a disclaimer on the theory of evolution.

 Reese said he inserted the amendment after learning that one of the science textbooks rejected by the committee earlier this year referred to the story of creation in the Bible as a myth.

 His amendment would apply when the textbook committee selects a new round of science textbooks in six years, he said.

 Church and state debate:
But if it became law, the controversial bill would not be upheld by the courts, several legal analysts said Wednesday.

 "The U.S. Supreme Court has been very inconsistent in dealing with establishing religion" in state institutions, said Stephen Feldman, professor of law and political science at the University of Tulsa. "But for the most part, the court has been very sensitive to situations regarding school children."

 Recently, the court declared one school's desire to post the Ten Commandments in a classroom unconstitutional, Feldman said. The court has also ruled that "moments of silence" in schools are unconstitutional.

 "There is a reasonable chance this would be declared unconstitutional," Feldman said.

 Tulsa attorney John Anderson agreed.

 "To me, it absolutely violates church and state and invades each student's individual right to make a choice about what they believe," Anderson said. "I think it crosses the line."

 But Reese said his amendment does not violate the separation of church and state.

 "We are able to say we are one nation under God," he said, noting that there are references to God on money, on the Lincoln Memorial and on the walls of the Supreme Court.

 "I would have a hard time believing it would be a violation of church and state," he said.

 Fact or theory:
Reese said he has concerns with science textbooks which maintain that evolution is a scientific fact when it is a theory. At the same time, he said many textbooks do not refer to creationism, the idea that all species were created and are not the products of evolution.

 But that is where Tulsa biology teacher Julie Davis disagrees.

 "To me, they go hand in hand," the Edison High School teacher said of evolution and creationism. "We know change occurs; the debate is over the cause."

 And no matter what words are on the front of the book, biology can't be discussed without mentioning change, she said.

 "I will just have to use the word `change' -- which is evolution. It's semantics."

 The amendments:
Reese attempted to restore the bill's title and enacting clause so it would bypass the conference committee, but the attempt failed by a vote of 49-49.

 "They clearly will take it to a conference committee and bury my amendment," Reese said.

 He said that if the bill emerges from the conference committee without his amendment, he will ask the full House to reject the conference committee report and send it back with instructions to reinsert the amendment.

 The House also voted 87-9 for an amendment by Rep. John Wright, R-Broken Arrow, to give the textbook committee the authority to insert a one-page summary, opinion or disclaimer on any textbook that it adopts.

 Staggs said she would seek to have that amendment removed by the conference committee because Wright was attempting to circumvent the House committee process. She said the House Education Committee had already killed a bill that would give the textbook committee authority to have one-page book summaries.

 Staggs also said Wright's amendment was an attempt to censor textbooks.

 "How would it be censorship by offering another opinion?" Wright asked.

 Gov. Frank Keating has the opportunity to appoint seven new members to the committee this month as a result of term expirations, unfilled positions and one committee resignation.

 World staff writer Ashley Parrish contributed to this story.
Brian Ford, World Capitol Bureau reporter, can be reached at (405) 528-2465 or via e-mail at brian.ford@tulsaworld.com.