Texas school board approves all but one science text book

After an extended battle before the state school board, it looks like the next round of Texas' science textbooks will make it to classrooms with the science intact. On Thursday night, the board gave its approval to material from 14 different publishers for the material they've developed in the biological and environmental sciences. These materials covered the politically contentious topics of climate change and evolution.

The approval is not without a potential hitch. One of the reviewers appointed by the board (a group that includes a number of creationists) testified about supposed errors found in the offering from publisher Pearson. That would presumably be the Miller and Levine textbook. The board has provisionally approved that text pending clarification of the supposed errors. According to the Texas Freedom Network, "The publisher has insisted that the alleged errors are, in fact, accurate representations of established, mainstream science."

So, although there might be some additional arguing, the publishers' gambit—largely ignoring the suggestions of the creationists that the board appointed—appears to have paid off. It's tempting to speculate that the Miller and Levine text was made a target because one of the authors, Ken Miller, gave testimony at the trial in which teaching intelligent design in public schools was declared unconstitutional.