The conservative-dominated State Board of Education today will revisit its decision to include language challenging the scientific Theory of Evolution in state biology curriculum, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The language, which encourages students to 'explore creationism as an alternative to evolution' and urges teachers to 'urge students to explore all sides of the scientific evidence' related to evolution and creationism.
Dan Quinn of the left-leaning Texas Freedom Network says a committee of researchers and teachers were asked by the board to examine that language, and the committee recommended it be removed from the science curriculum, simply because 'creationism' is generally not considered to be science.
He says it would not make sense to appoint a committee specifically to look at this issue, only to reject the committee's findings.
"If they're just going to reject the recommendations because they don't like them, then why are we going through the charade to begin with," he said.
The definition of creationism, also called 'creation science' is: "The belief that the universe and living organisms originate from specific acts of divine creation, as in the biblical account, rather than by natural processes such as evolution."
The teachers and the researchers on the committee said their recommendation is not to downplay anybody's religious beliefs, but they question why what are essentially religious beliefs should be taught in science class.
"These standards are bloated and confusing and far too time consuming," Quinn said.The issue will be debated over the next several days, but is not expected to come up for a final vote of the SBOE until April.
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