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State Bills Threaten Science Education
By Nicole Byrd
Academe has frequently reported on legislation purportedly aimed at “balancing” ideological perspectives in education. A recent crop of bills is opening a new front in the battle for academic freedom by focusing more narrowly on the teaching of science, particularly the teaching of politically tinged topics such as climate change and evolution.
Legislation introduced in Alabama, Louisiana, Michigan, and Missouri seeks to make curricula more permissive of ideas such as “intelligent design.” Although, with the exception of Alabama, these bills apply only to K–12 education, passage of any of them would have repercussions at the college level. In addition, their passage would encourage the introduction of future bills that would explicitly expand the legislation to include higher education. To track the bills’ progress, visit the National Center for Science Education Web site (www.ncseweb.org) or subscribe to the AAUP’s government relations enewsletter by sending an e-mail to Nicole Byrd.
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