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Good Afternoon Martin,
Here is the Tennessee Legislation in its entirety.
Wesley
Wesley S. Creel
Administrator of Programs
Pink Palace Family of Museums
3050 Central Avenue
Memphis, TN 38111
www.memphismuseums.org
Office 901.636.2370 new telephone number
FAX 901.636.2391 new FAX number
State of Tennessee
PUBLIC CHAPTER NO. 670
HOUSE BILL NO. 368
By Representatives Dunn, White, Hensley, Faison, Lollar, Evans, McCormick, Shipley,
Weaver, Eldridge, Rich, Maggart, Carr, Alexander, Floyd, Don Miller, Hill, Holt, Butt,
Sparks, Powers, Cobb, Roach, Parkinson
Substituted for: Senate Bill No. 893
By Senators Watson, Beavers, Johnson
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 10, relative to
teaching scientific subjects in elementary schools.
WHEREAS, the general assembly finds that:
(1) An important purpose of science education is to inform students about
scientific evidence and to help students develop critical thinking skills necessary to
become intelligent, productive, and scientifically informed citizens;
(2) The teaching of some scientific subjects required to be taught under the
curriculum framework developed by the state board of education may cause debate and
disputation including, but not limited to, biological evolution, the chemical origins of life,
global warming, and human cloning; and
(3) Some teachers may be unsure of the expectation concerning how they
should present information when debate and disputation occur on such subjects; now,
therefore,
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 10, is amended by
adding the following as a new, appropriately designated section:
(a) The state board of education, public elementary and secondary school
governing authorities, directors of schools, school system administrators, and public
elementary and secondary school principals and administrators shall endeavor to create
an environment within public elementary and secondary schools that encourages
students to explore scientific questions, learn about scientific evidence, develop critical
thinking skills, and respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about
scientific subjects required to be taught under the curriculum framework developed by
the state board of education.
(b) The state board of education, public elementary and secondary school
governing authorities, directors of schools, school system administrators, and public
elementary and secondary school principals and administrators shall endeavor to assist
teachers to find effective ways to present the science curriculum taught under the
curriculum framework developed by the state board of education as it addresses
scientific subjects that may cause debate and disputation.
(c) Neither the state board of education, nor any public elementary or secondary
school governing authority, director of schools, school system administrators, or any
public elementary or secondary school principal or administrators shall prohibit any
teacher in a public school system of this state from helping students understand,
analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific
weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught within the
curriculum framework developed by the state board of education.
(d) This section only protects the teaching of scientific information, and shall not
be construed to promote any religious or non-religious doctrine, promote discrimination
HB368
for or against a particular set of religious beliefs or non-beliefs, or promote discrimination
for or against religion or non-religion.
SECTION 2. By no later than the start of the 2012-2013 school term, the department of
education shall notify all directors of schools of the provisions of this act. Each director shall
notify all employees within the director's school system of the provisions of this act.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring
it.
--END--
-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Martin Weiss
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2012 3:41 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Anti Science Just Won't Give Up
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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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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