Unpopular Opinion

Not every student needs a rigorous scientific education. Not every parent will demand one. Not every public school will require or offer one. My claim is that Christians absolutely should. Likely other religions as well, I use Christian merely because it's what I'm most familiar with.

The mission of a public school is to graduate students intellectually fit to participate in civil society, which in my opinion does include at least a cursory understanding of evolution. At least enough to know how to look up the details later if needed. A Christian school must do similarly, but carries the additional objective of raising students confident in their faith, which requires a more detailed and rigorous treatment of the subject.

If you want your children to be able to defend their religious beliefs against scientific encroachment, then they better know exactly what science they're defending their faith from. Although evolution presents a credible alternative to a literal interpretation of Genesis 1, it isn't inherently incompatible with Christian education and doesn't prove atheism right. Even when the belief in evolution is optional, understanding the scientific basis for it is critical.

When Christian parents neglect their children's secular scientific education, they grow up to say stupid shit like, "If Darwin says we evolved from monkeys, they why are there still monkeys?" They'll think they cleverly debunked all the atheist scientists, even though neither Darwin, nor any evolutionist since, made that claim. This makes them a disgrace to their faith and to their educators.