The South Carolina board of education voted 10-6 last week to reject a proposal that would have asked students to “critically analyze” evolution as part of the state’s science standards, the latest chapter in a debate over the theory’s status in the state.
A majority of the board voted March 8 to reject a recommendation, made by the state’s Education Oversight Committee— an appointed group of educators, business representatives, and elected officials—that called on students to understand biological evolution but also use “data from a variety of scientific sources to investigate and critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory.”
Critics of similar language proposed in other states have called such language an attempt to single out evolution for special criticism.
