Texas Board of Ed. Starts to Cave on Evolution Debate

The Texas Board of Education has voted preliminarily to ease, but not completely get rid of, the state high school curriculum requirement that educators should help students question the theory of evolution. 

The Board of Education's 10 Republicans and five Democrats voted Wednesday to remove the mandate that "all sides" be presented. 

But they voted to keep curriculums on cell complexity and the origin of life. 

They also modified lessons on the fossil record, but kept language that highlights gaps. 

The evolution issue has been tense for years in the schools in Texas, and it still not settled. 

The board will vote again on Friday before a final decision is made in April. 

There are four parts of the Texas curriculum that are at issue. 

The first and most disputed asks biology teachers to have students scrutinize "all sides of scientific evidence" on evolution "so as to encourage critical thinking." 

The second and third points at issue are mandating lessons that explore the complexity of human cells and the origins of life. 

The fourth point examines gaps in the fossil record that raise questions about sudden bursts in the development of life, rather than the normally slow evolutionary process, which Christian conservatives say shows God's hand in creating life. 

With 5.3 million public school students, Texas has a nationwide impact on science education because it is one of the country's largest purchasers of textbooks.