Photo by Joann Martinez on Unsplash.
Oklahoma's Senate Bill 1868 (PDF), if enacted, would require any public or charter school teacher who teaches evolution also to "provide instruction to students on the concepts of creationism and/or intelligent design."
Teaching "intelligent design" as scientifically credible in a public school was found to be unconstitutional by a federal court in Kitzmiller v. Dover (2005); the judge in the case wrote, "The overwhelming evidence at trial established that ["intelligent design"] is a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory."
Teaching creationism as scientifically credible in a public school, in turn, was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Edwards v. Aguillard (1987). The court held that a Louisiana state law requiring the teaching of creationism "impermissibly endorses religion by advancing the religious belief that a supernatural being created humankind."
The bill was introduced by David Bullard (R-District 6), who introduced legislation aimed at undermining evolution education in previous legislative sessions: Senate Bill 14 in 2019, Senate Bill 613 in 2021, and Senate Bill 1871 in 2024. None passed committee.
