My state is driving me crazy

I love being from Texas (I was even born on Texas Independence Day). But there are some things that just leave me shaking my head. And unfortunately I've been shaking my head a lot lately...

I was going to write up my own summary of all that has been going on, but this post at the National Center from Science Education already did a great job of it:
With evolution sure to be a hotly debated topic at the next meeting of the Texas state board of education, with a bill just introduced in the Texas legislature aimed at restoring the contentious "strengths and weaknesses" language to the standards, and with a different bill aimed at exempting the Institute for Creation Research's graduate school from the regulations governing degree-granting institutions in Texas, there's no shortage of news from the Lone Star state. NCSE, of course, continues not only to report on the antics of creationism in Texas but also to help concerned Texans to combat them: Texans wishing to express their concerns about the standards to the Texas state board of education, which is expected to have its final vote on the standards at its meeting in Austin on March 25-27, 2009, will find contact information and talking points in the Taking Action section of NCSE's website and on the Texas Freedom Network's website.

Read the rest of the NCSE post here and you can find information there about how to contact your SBOE rep if you're in Texas.

Unfortunately my representative to the Board is one of the looniest of the loons - Cynthia Dunbar. Regardless, I'm still writing an email to her ( which actually goes to the board in general, so it is worthwhile even if she won't vote in favor of science). I haven't had a chance to look into writing to members of the legislature about the two bills mentioned in the NCSE article, but I will do that as well if need be. I'm also hoping to be able to get down to the final vote on the science standards next week, but either ironically or appropriately, I have a calendar full of science outreach most of the week!

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