AUSTIN, Texas, March 23 (UPI) -- The Texas State Board of Education says it's been bombarded from the left and right as it nears a vote on teaching evolution in public high schools.
Scores of people have signed up for a public hearing Wednesday, the last before the 15-member board votes Friday on whether schools will present traditional teachings about evolution or what many scientists describe as a watered-down version, The San Antonio Express-News reported Monday.
The Texas Republican Party wants high schools to present both the weaknesses and strengths of evolutionary theory, the Express-News reported. Scientists, however, argue there is no weakness in basic evolutionary theory taught at the high school level.
The strengths and weaknesses standard is favored by the board's seven social conservatives and opposed by the board's five Democrats, with three Republicans remaining as the swing votes.
