My experience may be a bit of an outlier because of my location, but our local educators are terribly split on how they cover evolutionary biology.
A large number of our local teachers were educated at a fundamentalist Christian institution (you figure out which one). While these educators may "teach the test" for our state's standards of learning, they make it exceedingly clear that evolution is "just a theory", "doesn't have scientific consensus", insert other spurious claims here. These educators are often very willing to provide their own opinions on the matter. There are also many wonderful and appropriately educated teachers around, but their effect can be diluted. This is particularly the case where so many families reinforce the message from the other teachers. Perhaps having this particular institution nearby helps, as new-earth creationism is such an easy straw-man - most of our students are seeking better answers before they arrive at college. A few of our students are unwilling to review the evidence we discuss, they typically major in other disciplines. The other students presumably go to the other institution. Maybe it is harder to deal with the "debate" where the counter-argument (while still wrong) isn't quite as easy to refute? Kari Benson Lynchburg College
