Over the past three days, the Texas State Board of Education has heard over 50 testimonies debating a proposed amendment to reinstate the requirement of teaching the "strengths and weaknesses" of the theory of evolution in the statewide science curriculum. The proposed regulation, which has provided creationism a place in the classroom in the past, alarmed scientists not only for its potential repercussions in Texas, but because of the state's large textbook market as well, which forces textbook authors to bend to the state's curricula. To their relief, the bill failed this morning in a preliminary vote, 7-7; a final vote will follow on Friday. ScienceBlogger Josh Rosenau was present to testify on behalf of the National Center for Science Education, and also liveblogged the hearings.