Can we remove the heirarchy of hypothesis from science education?

Repeatedly in my forays on the web, and in explaining science to non-scientists, in particular in the context of the ongoing evolution-creationism debates, I am constantly faced with explaining what a theory is in the context of science, and that the "hypothesis -> theory -> law" that many people no doubt learned in elementary and high school is simply wrong, and has been for a long, long time. Getting this erroneous thinking removed from the education process would go a long way towards improving the scientific literacy of people in general.