Texas State Rep. Valoree Swanson is the latest Republican to propose legislation that would weaken science standards.

House Bill 1485, like its siblings in Indiana, Oklahoma, and South Dakota, would allow teachers to teach “the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories.”

“Strengths and weaknesses,” as we know by now, is just code for information that weakens confidence in science — specifically evolution. To be sure, if that information were actually out there, teachers should absolutely bring it up. However, it’s not out there, and this legislation is intended to create a way for teachers to promote Intelligent Design (which has no credibility among working scientists) in the classroom without consequence.

The National Center for Science Education points out that similar legislation was proposed in Texas in 2009, but it died in committee.

If you live in Texas, contact your representatives and urge them to vote against this bill.

(via National Center for Science Education. Image via Shutterstock. Portions of this article were published earlier)



