Bill Undermining Teaching of Evolution Introduced in South Carolina

On January 31, 2019, House Bill 3826 was introduced into the South Carolina House Committee on Education and Public Works. If passed, the bill would allow public schools to administer an elective course on religion, which would include creation science as part of the course’s curriculum.

According to the National Center for Science Education, this bill would violate court decisions from McLean v. Arkansas (1982) and Edwards v. Aguillard (1987). These decisions prohibit the teaching of creation science in public schools, whether it be in addition to or in place of teaching evolution, as a violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

Update

On April 10, 2019, House Bill 3826 effectively died after the House Committee on Education and Public Works failed to vote on the measure by the deadline for bills to be passed in their house of origin.