Houston-area lawmaker files creationism bill



Click through the slideshow to see the best school districts in Texas for 2017, as ranked by Niche. less School Priority Day visitor Jeff Newman peeks through a microscope during his tour of a veterinary medicine classroom at Cy-Fair High School on Nov. 14. Rep. Valoree Swanson, R-Spring, wants science teachers to have "academic freedom" to teach controversial scientific explanations for the origin of life, climate change, evolution and human cloning. Critics say her bill will protect those teaching creationism. School Priority Day visitor Jeff Newman peeks through a microscope during his tour of a veterinary medicine classroom at Cy-Fair High School on Nov. 14. Rep. Valoree Swanson, R-Spring, wants science teachers to ... more Image 1 of / 48 Caption Close Houston-area lawmaker files creationism bill 1 / 48 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN -- A Houston-area state lawmaker has filed a bill to ensure science teachers have "academic freedom" to introduce ideas such as creationism in the classroom without fear of reprisal.

House Bill 1485, filed this week by Rep. Valoree Swanson, R-Spring, would require elected education officials and school leaders to assist teachers presenting scientific subjects that "may cause controversy," specifically climate change, biological evolution, the origins of life and human cloning.

"Teachers should have the freedom to investigate and teach evidence-based science, including strengths and weaknesses of scientific theories, in order to instill scientific critical thinking skills in their students," Swanson said in a press release.

The bill amounts a "get out of jail free card to maverick teachers," said Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, Inc., which watchdogs legislative attempts to permit the teaching of creationism. He said the bill would block administrators and school boards from reprimanding teachers who focus science teachings on divine creation, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled teaching creationism is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.

According to the bill, the legislation is not meant to promote any religious or nonreligious doctrine.

The bill is nearly identical to a law supported by creationists in Tennessee in 2012, and similar to a Louisiana law passed in 2008. Texas is one of four states so far this year to introduce such legislation, along with Indiana, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Swanson, a freshman legislator, filed the bill the day after the State Board of Education took a preliminary vote against teacher recommendations to strike high school curricula requiring students to weigh scientific explanations to several issues of biology, which critics say hint at creationism. The board reiterated its decision Friday and will hear public testimony in April before taking a final note on the standards.