Anti-science in Tennessee Classrooms

A new law opens the door to teaching creationism and climate change denialism in the state's public schools.

Written byBob Grant

| 1 min read

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Public school educators in Tennessee can now teach their students the tenets of creationism, intelligent design, and global warming skepticism with impunity, according to opponents of a new law in the state. Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam declined to either sign or veto the state's so-called "monkey bill," which prohibits public school officials from stopping a teacher who aims to teach alternatives to well-established scientific theories such as evolution and global climate change. As a result, HB 368 became law on Tuesday (April 10).

Proponents of science education had been urging Haslam to veto the bill after Tennessee's state Senate and House of Representatives passed it by a 3-to-1 margin last month.

The new law—which makes Tennessee the second state to open public school doors to ...

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Meet the Author

Bob Grant
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From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
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