According to the Miami Herald’s political blog, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings was chicken on science today. In Florida’s capital to boost NCLB (and Florida’s high-stakes accountability system), the blog reported that Spellings won’t speak the “e” word:
…when asked whether the nation’s top education official has a position on whether evolution should be a part of science standards, Spellings replied: “No, I don’t.”
Florida’s draft new science standards mention evolution and has drawn political fire from social conservatives in the state. The new Commissioner of Education has also demurred on the issue, and I guess Spellings is either truly noncommittal (something she hasn’t shown any evidence of before) or is considering a run for office in Texas.