South Dakota Senate considering questionable science education bill

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While fans of science may be nervously watching the goings on in Washington, it's always worth paying attention to what's going on at the state level, as each state has control over how science education is handled within its borders. In the past, many state legislators haven't thought twice about attempting to inject cultural battles into the science classroom.

This year, as it has in years past, South Dakota has decided to get in on the action. Its Senate has passed a bill that echoes language used in the past to attack the teaching of evolution.

Senate Bill 55 is remarkably short and to the point. Its entire text reads:

No teacher may be prohibited from helping students understand, analyze, critique, or review in an objective scientific manner the strengths and weaknesses of scientific information presented in courses being taught which are aligned with the content standards established pursuant to § 13-3-48.

But people familiar with past science education battles will find the language immediately familiar. "Strengths and weaknesses" made its appearance in the controversial Texas science standards. There, it was inserted into discussions of evolution under the assumption that it would allow teachers to focus on the "weakness" part. The idea that teachers need to be protected from discipline when teaching is presumably because the bill's backers recognize that teachers who attempt to undercut the teaching of mainstream science are at risk of sanction. That language has also made appearances in bills that have been introduced in a variety of states (see the sidebar story for a catalog).

And if there were any doubt about the bill's intentions, some of its sponsors had attempted to protect the teaching of "intelligent design" in a 2014 bill. The teaching of intelligent design in public schools had already been determined to be an unconstitutional imposition of religion by a federal court eight years prior to that bill.

While the earlier bill died in committee, Senate Bill 55 has cleared that hurdle and was passed by the full Senate last week. It already has a number of sponsors in the South Dakota House as well.