West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice has signed a law that supporters say promotes the free exchange of ideas in science classrooms. Opponents say it's constitutionally vague and could allow for the incursion of religion into public schools.
FILE - West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice delivers his State of the State address, Jan. 10, 2024, in Charleston, W.Va. Justice signed a law concerning science teaching Friday, March 22, 2024, supporters say promotes the free exchange of ideas in the classroom and opponents say is constitutionally vague and could allow for the incursion of religion into public schools. CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Republican Gov.
Speaking to the bill on the Senate floor in January, Grady said the bill is meant to clarify how teachers can approach these situations. Grady proposed a bill last year that would have specifically allowed intelligent design to be taught in public school settings. This year’s bill contained similar language when it was first proposed. It was reworked early in the legislative session to remove any direct mention of intelligent design before even being put in front of lawmakers.
Hurricane High School juniors Hayden Hodge and Hunter Bernard, both 16, said they are both religious but that intelligent design is not a religious argument and does not mention anything about God. Aubrey Sparks, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, said the organization would be watching the law’s implementation closely. If the wording of the legislation is ambiguous to her, she said, it’s going to be ambiguous for teachers, students and parents, too.
When the bill passed the Senate in January, Democratic Sen. Mike Woelfel said he has no problem with anyone’s religious beliefs and that as a Catholic, he thinks God created life. But he said he doesn’t think that’s something that should be taught in public schools and expressed concern that the legislation could be used as a backdoor approach to do so.
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