FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — The school board in this suburb south of Seattle has restricted showings of Al Gore's movie on global warming, including requiring that it be balanced with an adequate opposing viewpoint.
The board also required Superintendent Tom Murphy to approve when the former vice president's film, "An Inconvenient Truth," can be presented.
The decision was sparked by complaints from parents who said their children were taking the film as fact after viewing it at school.
"Condoms don't belong in school, and neither does Al Gore. He's not a schoolteacher," said Frosty Hardison, a parent of seven children who doesn't want the film shown at all.
"The information that's being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is," Hardison told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn't in the DVD."
Board President Ed Barney told The News Tribune of Tacoma on Jan. 10 that he had received about a half-dozen complaints from parents.
"We have to ensure that our schools are not being used to politically indoctrinate anyone," said board member Dave Larson, who with Barney and board member Charlie Hoff voted Jan. 9 for the requirements.
None of the board members has seen the movie. District policy, however, requires that an opposing view be aired whenever a controversial issue is examined in school.
"I am shocked that a school district would come to this decision," the movie's co-producer, Laurie David, said in a statement. "There is no opposing view to science, which is fact, and the facts are clear that global warming is here, now."
Gore's documentary has received approval from some of the nation's top climate scientists for its accuracy. In it, he presents scientists' findings on the catastrophic dangers of climate change.
Federal researchers with the National Academy of Sciences have said the planet's temperature has climbed to levels not seen in thousands of years, and has begun to affect plants and animals.
But Larson offered two opposing articles, including one by author John Stossel, that said many scientists discredit global-warming predictions. He also cited NASA and NOAA Web sites referring to debate and disagreement over climate change.
The film also has been denied a showing at Tacoma's Remann Hall, a high school for juvenile offenders, where Principal Rue Palmer rejected a teacher's request.
The film hasn't been approved by the Tacoma School District's curriculum committee. The school also focuses on core subjects and doesn't generally show films, said Patti Holmgren, Tacoma district spokeswoman.
The National Science Teachers Association turned down an offer from the film's producers for 50,000 free DVDs for classroom use. The association said it didn't want to be seen as politically endorsing the film or to open itself to requests from other special interests.