Well, in the age of just shout louder against the marchin’, marchin’ hordes, aw, maybe academic freedom is just a frill anyway.
From Erin Ross at Nature:
Revamped ‘anti-science’ education bills in United States find success: Legislation urges educators to ‘teach the controversy’ and allows citizens to challenge curricula.
State and local legislatures in the United States are experimenting with new ways to target the topics taught in science classes, and it seems to be paying dividends. Florida’s legislature approved a bill on 5 May that would enable residents to challenge what educators teach students. And two other states have already approved non-binding legislation this year urging teachers to embrace ‘academic freedom’ and present the full spectrum of views on evolution and climate change. This would give educators license to treat evolution and intelligent design as equally valid theories, or to present climate change as scientifically contentious.More.
Well, it depends on what one wants, right? Both subjects are currently highly contentious in the real world. They might be an opportunity to help students learn to cope with the real world instead of learning zombie science and then finding out the problems later.
In the United States, teaching any explicitly religious theory would be forbidden under conventional interpretations of the 1st Amendment to the Constitution. The Darwin-in-the-schools lobby, quoted in the linked article, must hope that no one realizes that.
See also: No, really!! We found the zombies! They were on welfare in Texas! But they are apparently heading back to California, where their talents are said to be urgently needed.
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