Texas State Board of Education voted Friday to drop the requirement that science teachers present "strengths and weaknesses" of a theory
The board's vote followed two days of debate on a recommendation that was made by a panel of science teachers to drop the old language. The science teachers want to replace it with the stipulation that students should analyze and evaluate scientific explanations.
Many critics have argued that the 20-year-old science curriculum requirement is mainly intended to weaken the teaching of evolution.
The new standards will apply for 10 years and will have implications for the entire nation, as they will likely determine the standard approach to evolution in school textbooks. Publishers will not likely want to prepare two different versions, one for Texas and another one for the rest of the country.
The debate between proponents and critics of the "strengths and weaknesses" language is less about the language itself than its relevance to the way that evolution is taught in public schools. By emphasizing both the "strengths" and the "weaknesses" of the theory of evolution, advocates of creationism and intelligent design hope to portray evolution as lacking sufficient scientific credibility to be treated as fact.
Proponents of creationism and intelligent design can no longer use the more direct approach of requiring that their view be included in science curricula, due to several Federal court rulings over the past few years. Their critics argue that the "strengths and weaknesses" language is a back-door approach to circumventing the intent of the court rulings.
Friday's vote does not represent the board's final decision on the issue. A final vote on the exact wording to be approved for the new curriculum requirements is expected in March.