Senate Bill 1871 would, if enacted, require that the religious theories of intelligent design and/or creationism be taught alongside the scientific theory of evolution. This would apply to both public and charter school instruction.
The bill, which was introduced by State Senator David Bullard, would violate Kitzmiller v. Dover (2005) in which a federal court ruled that teaching intelligent design as “scientifically credible” was unconstitutional. Senator Bullard introduced similar pieces of legislation in 2019 and 2021, both of which died in the Senate Committee on Education.
Update: The bill died on February 29, 2024, when the deadline for bills to pass committee in their house of origin expired.