louisiana

Louisiana is not exactly the poster child for the separation of church and state.

There have been persistent problems in the state, stretching back several decades. Louisiana, you will recall, passed the “balanced treatment” act mandating that public school teach creationism alongside evolution. It was invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1987. Read more

Creationism continues to make headlines in Louisiana, where a science teacher is under investigation for an unfortunate letter to the editor. Charlotte Hinson, who teaches in a Caddo Parish public school, wrote to the Shreveport Times after that  newspaper published articles favorable to evolution.

Hinson slammed the articles for treating creationism as an unproven theory, and evolution as fact. “That is strictly opinion,” she wrote.
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“National School Choice Week” may be winding down, but there is still much work to be done to ensure that your tax dollars aren’t used to fund religious schools through voucher schemes.

You’ve heard a lot from Americans United this week about the truth behind “school choice.” So by now you may be aware that this whole “School Choice Week” publicity stunt is really about vouchers, and vouchers aren’t really about improving educational choices for anyone. Read more

“National School Choice Week,” a propaganda initiative created by the forces that want you to pay taxes to support someone else’s religious school, is still two months away. But some educators are already pushing back against an onslaught of misinformation.

In an open letter published by the Huffington Post, Steve Nelson of Manhattan’s prestigious Calhoun School told voucher backers they’d have to campaign without him. Read more

For years, anti-public school interest groups that favor privatization schemes have smacked their lips and salivated as they’ve contemplated the demise of public education.

But a funny thing happened: The people who actually rely on public education – America’s parents – aren’t buying it. Read more

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) says she’s concerned about Americans’ right to pray. In fact, she has just introduced legislation she says will protect this right. She calls it the “Freedom to Pray” bill.

Wait a minute. Don’t we already have the right to pray? It’s in the First Amendment, after all. Read more

Americans United has been critical of Louisiana lately, chiding legislators for promoting creationism and official school prayer, so when something good happens in the Pelican State, we should point it out. Read more

Change comes slowly to some parts of the country. Louisiana is a stark reminder of that.

It’s 2013, and state legislators continue to resist efforts to teach evolution in public schools. There was another showdown on the matter yesterday, with members of the Senate Education Committee voting 3-2 to table a bill that would have repealed creationist legislation in the state. Read more

Activists who have defended the separation of church and state for a long time sometimes ask me if there’s a new generation of young people who will carry on this work in the years to come.

The answer is yes. This past weekend, you might have had the opportunity to see one of them on “Moyers & Company” on PBS.

Long-time PBS journalist Bill Moyers interviewed Zack Kopplin, a 19-year-old college student and Louisiana native who causes headaches for creationists everywhere. Read more