A new bill in Florida would amend the law to require that teachers provide a "thorough presentation and critical analysis of the scientific theory of evolution."
Regular readers of this blog might remember this language from an earlier bill in Florida that died during the last legislative session. The Senate passed a bill that would have protected science teachers who "present scientific information relevant to the full range of views on biological and chemical evolution," but the House added language that required teachers to present a "thorough presentation and scientific critical analysis of the scientific theory of evolution"—language that was strongly and repeatedly rejected by the Senate. No compromise between the two versions of the bill could be reached before the spring session closed in May.
To many, the new bill—like the others—is a stealth attempt to sneak religious ideas like "intelligent design" into the science classroom and weaken the state's science standards, which were changed last March to include the word "evolution" for the first time. —Heather Wax