TX Senate Hearing on Chairman McElroy's 2-year term, II

As the hours of the hearing wore steadily on, the Democrats took over the questioning, and became progressively tougher on McElroy. Leading the first charge was Elliot Shapleigh (D-El Paso), who seemed to enjoy the game of taking quotes from McElroy and asking him to explain himself...

SHAPLEIGH: Perception is that you have a point of view, and you're using this bully pulpit to promote this point of view. Reads quote from McElroy "I was totally convinced that biblical account was true, and that it could be scientifically accurate."
MCELROY: That is my personal statement about my opinion. My interest in the science TEKS was never to push a religious point of view, even though I have one. All I wanted was good science.
SHAPLEIGH: another quote at Grace Bible Church in College Station "There were only the 4 really conservative orthodox Christians on the board willing to stand up to the textbooks to say they do not represent the weaknesses of evolution."
MCELROY: I have my point of view. Purpose of that Sunday-school class at Grace Bible Church was to present Intelligent Design to professors. I was there to discuss philosophy of naturalism. I complimented my fellow Board members and said they were all fine Christians--at the end of those remarks, if you look. I had not intended for this to be a public comment--it was a Sunday-school class, and I was expressing a personal opinion. Only later did I find out it was being recorded.
SHAPLEIGH: Have you done every thing possible to push Intelligent Design in textbooks?
MCELROY: I did everything I could to bring up scientific difficulties of evolution.
SHAPLEIGH: You've been quoted as saying Earth is 6000 years old...
MCELROY: I teach 4th grade Sunday School, and in the beginning there is a start. There are three views about this start: naturalistic view: biilions of year, and life emerged on its own. Then there are two creationist views: old-earth view and young-earth view. I hold to the young-earth view. Our local professors who attend that church are old-earth creationists. All three views have big problems. I think the naturalist view has the biggest problems. But I have not pushed the age question in the books or in the geologic column or in the standards. I think it's a reasonable view to promote.
SHAPLEIGH: Are you aware of anyone in the American Academy of Science who holds your view?
MCELROY: No.
SHAPLEIGH: Experts and teachers worked for months, and we are told you disregarded them and pushed for changes in these standards that they said were unscientific. How can you do this if your goal is to improve science education?
MCELROY: We had a hearing, and I made an amendment for students to describe sufficiency and insufficiency of common ancestry to explain diversity. It passed. Our rules did not allow for testimony on the next day.
SHAPLEIGH: Quotes from McElroy on climate change and global warming. "I disagree with these experts. Someone has to stand up to them. Scientific consensus means nothing. Conservatives like me believe human contributions to global warming is a bunch of hooey."
MCELROY: Science is not about consensus--all it takes is one fact to overthrow a theory. I'm very skeptical of too strong a consensus. What we did as a Board on global warming--I did not advocate or push it. It turned out to be Mrs. Knight (D-Dallas) who proposed both sides of issue of global warming. I have not put my personal views in the standards.
SHAPLEIGH: There were 50+ science education societies including every Nobel prize-winning scientist, urging you to adopt committee version of standards without your modifications. But you undertook, as one person, to change the standards, did you not?
MCELROY: I proposed standards that looked at the scientific data. Common ancestry by unguided natural process. We were going to have them examine where the evidence for that is--in the fossil record. But you also have a sudden appearance problem in the Cambrian explosion--organisms appear fully formed, they stay the same, and then they go extinct. Scientific arguments for the complexity of the cell--that's being honest with the children.
MCELROY: tried to tell Senator Shapleigh that because he passed off the chair to the vice chair or the secretary whenever his amendments came up, he was being neutral, but Shapleigh would have none of it, but instead moved on to another topic.
SHAPLEIGH: In March of 2008, 150 literary works were recommended for reading/literature/language arts, and you were quoted as saying about Chinese-American literature "You don't want Chinese books with crazy words in them. Why would you want the kids to learn words they'll never use."
MCELROY: I apologize. My point, though admittedly poorly worded, was that these were books for English classes. They need to have many English words that students will need. I'm embarrassed by how I expressed that thought.
SHAPLEIGH: So in my community of El Paso, a book about our culture, and living in the barrio would have to be off the list, because it includes words that are not English?
MCELROY: (sheepishly) I was talking about basic English readers.
SHAPLEIGH: (shifting yet again): In this legislative session, there are 15 bills (the most I've ever seen in my career) to strip authority over curriculum and textbooks from the Board. You've created a hornet's nest. What will you change if you get another term?
MCELROY: We've been honest, we've been the voice taking the debate, and making the changes to take a stand. If we have to stand up to the establishment to do that, I don't mind the hornet's nest.
SHAPLEIGH: What if the hornet's nest is that you're taking kids down a path due to your religious point of view?
MCELROY: I do not see any way that I'm imposing my religious view on my work on the State Board of Education.

[In the next post, Senator Watson (D-Austin) takes over the questioning and it keeps getting tougher for Chairman Don...]