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A bill that would allow Tennessee teachers to question evolution, climate
change, and embryonic stem cell research under the guise of helping
students learn "critical thinking skills" is one step closer to becoming
law. On Monday the Tennessee Senate approved S. 893, which closely matches
a bill passed last
year<http://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6027/295.summary> (by
subscription) by the Tennessee House of Representatives. House members are
expected to approve the latest version and send the legislation to the
state's Republican governor, who has not indicated whether he will sign it.

Josh Rosenau of the National Center for Science Education in Oakland,
California, which tracks such legislation across the country, has been
blogging about the
bills<http://scienceblogs.com/tfk/2012/03/tennessee_sets_the_stage_for_a.php>.
"No one has ever explained why science teachers are the only ones who ought
to be promoting critical thinking and the other noble goals the legislature
lists," he writes, "nor has anyone justified the practical effects of the
bill, which would be far less laudable." His forecast: "[Now] it's up to
Governor [William] Haslam to protect the state's students, parents, and
teachers from their own legislature."

The *Knoxville News
Sentinel<http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/mar/19/anti-evolution-class-discussions-get-senates-ok/>
* described how Senate opponents of the bill, all Democrats, noted before
the vote that the state's science teachers are "doing just fine teaching
science without the Legislature's involvement." The paper quotes one
legislator as saying that "we are simply dredging up the problems of the
past with this bill." Eight members of the U.S. National Academy of
Sciences from Tennessee, including Vanderbilt University medicine Nobelist
Stanley Cohen, have written a letter objecting to the measure, saying it
could force teachers "to emphasize what are misdescribed as the scientific
weaknesses of evolution."
Martin
-- 
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Martin Weiss, PhD
Senior Scientist
New York Hall of Science
mweiss at nyscience.org
cell   347-460-1858
desk 718 595 9156

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