Without debate, the State Board of Education today tentatively approved new science curriculum standards that scrap a longstanding requirement that students be taught the “weaknesses” in the theory of evolution.
The action followed a meeting Thursday in which members who are aligned with social conservatives failed to muster enough votes on the 15-member board to retain the rule. Only seven Republican members backed the requirement.
All three Dallas-area board members – Republicans Geraldine Miller of Dallas and Pat Hardy of Weatherford, and Democrat Mavis Knight of Dallas – opposed the rule. They cited the recommendations of a science review committee of teachers and academics, who contended that talking about "weaknesses" would undermine the proper teaching of Charles Darwin’s theory of how humans evolved from lower life forms.
The board will take a final vote in March, but it is expected to ratify the actions taken today.
With that, Texas science education steps into the 20th century.
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