If Schools Want to Teach Creationism, Let Them

It's the kind of story that seems like it should get people riled up: Among the private schools getting $1 billion in taxpayer money in tuition vouchers are religious schools that teach creationism in place of actual science, according to Politico. But at Time, Nick Gillespie isn't feeling the rage. "As much as I believe in evolution, I believe even more strongly in school choice—especially for poor and underprivileged kids, who are the primary beneficiaries of the voucher programs," he writes. Besides, $1 billion is a "rounding error" when it comes to what we spend on public education, and this affects a relative handful of kids.

If you want to get angry about the US education system, there are much bigger fish to fry, writes Gillespie. Our kids consistently fare poorly in world science rankings, and "you can’t blame that sad-sack showing on a handful of voucher kids at fundamentalist Bible schools." Among high school seniors, math and reading scores have been stagnant for decades. Direct your outrage at that. "Unlike evolution, which will proceed apace whether or not we believe in it, math and reading will stop in their tracks if we don’t teach them to our children," writes Gillespie. Click for his full column. (More education stories.)