State legislation could accidentally mess up science education

Enlarge / Photo Taken In Thailand, Chon Buri (credit: Weeraya Siankulpatanakij / EyeEm | Getty Images)

As state legislatures begin their annual consideration of bills, there is invariably a set of bills introduced that targets science education, typically focusing on evolution and climate change. This year is no exception-witness an Indiana bill that calls for "the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life, including creation science." In the vast majority of these instances, someone points out that these efforts are blatantly unconstitutional, and the bills go nowhere, as has already happened in North Dakota.

But this year, three states have seen measures introduced that could interfere with science education, but only accidentally. In a bid to keep "controversial issues" out of the classroom, the bills would call for teachers not to advocate on any topics that have appeared in the platform of a state political party. In the US, that would include evolution and climate change.

Because freedom

As is typical when similar measures appear in multiple states, the idea comes from an outside source. In this case, the source calls itself "Stop K-12 Indoctrination," an outgrowth of the David Horowitz Freedom Center. While the Center has been labelled anti-Muslim, its issues seem more generally anti-left-wing, targeting programs that promote gender and racial tolerance.

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