Catholic Schools Test Best in NYC

NEW YORK POST, March 22 — A new study found that New York City's parochial school students scored higher in math and reading than public school students, the New York daily reported.

The New York University study showed that minority and low-income students in parochial schools outperformed public school students from similar backgrounds.

In fourth grade, Catholic school students averaged 10 points higher in reading and seven points higher in math.

By eighth grade, that gap had risen: Catholic students scored 17 points higher in reading and 20 points better in math.

Teacher Prohibited from Questioning Darwin

LOS ANGELES TIMES, March 25 — School officials in Burlington, Wash., told a high school biology teacher that he could no longer teach that Darwin's theory of evolution was flawed, the Los Angeles daily reported.

Roger DeHart did not mention God in his classes, but he did propose arguments for intelligent design, the theory that scientific study reveals that the universe must have had an intelligent creator.

In 1999, after complaints from the American Civil Liberties Union, school authorities instructed DeHart to stop discussing intelligent design. Then, in March of 2001, DeHart was forbidden from even using materials that questioned Darwin's theories.

Carlow College Nixes Comic

CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, March 30 — Carlow College, a Catholic institution in Pennsylvania, canceled an appearance by lesbian comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.

Westenhoefer's agent, Steven Nash, said that the performance was canceled because of the comic's sexuality.

Grace Ann Geibel, the college's president, called the show “improper,” and the college declined to comment further.

Santa Fe Keeps Controversial Workshops

ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL, March 21 — Public schools in Santa Fe, N.M., will continue to use pro-homosexual health class workshops, the Albuquerque daily reported.

Opponents of “Project GLYPH” workshops won a few token concessions: The curriculum's title has been changed from “An Anti-Homophobia, Prejudice-Reduction Curriculum” to “Valuing Differences,” and definitions for homosexual, bisexual and heterosexual no longer describe them as “normal.”