Liveblogging Texas Day 2, part 3

Mercer: Teach S&W of everything. It would be illegal to single out evolution. 6500 emails say keep S&W. He's been battered. This is a battle for freedom of speech. Teachers have a right to allow students to have questions. I note that teachers also have a right to maintain order in classrooms.

Darwin, apparently, claimed that a religion had been made of his theories. Possibly in his last month. It's a threat to religious freedom to base college admission on their understanding of evolution.

"History has not been kind to evolutionists." Piltdown had a human brain with the jaw of an ape. Haeckel's diagrams. Oh, and Haeckel was racist, so therefore...

Kids excited to tell grandparents that old drawings aren't accurate any longer. Also says Kettlewell experiments are a lie. Now he says there was no dinosaur with feathers because one fossil presented as such was fraudulent. I note that lots of dinosaurs with feathers aren't frauds.

"I stand and vote in favor of the amendment," but he's sitting!

Leo: Quotes Disco. blog again. Singling out evolution is trouble. We don't do that. No lawsuits yet. And anything that doesn't produce lawsuits is awesome.

Nuñez is missing.

Allen: Against. Listen to the experts. Everyone who came to visit me opposed this S&W language. False to say students can't ask questions without S&W language. "Respect educators."

Berlanga: Against. We had a good process for nominating standards writers, and we should listen to our experts.

Lowe: For amendment. We aren't rejecting experts, just overruling them on one important issue. No matter what, you're voting for some science teachers and against others. Draft language doesn't make it clear we're dealing with scientific explanations.

Presumably she's excluding the bit about how students "analyze and evaluate scientific explanations."

Bradley: Focusing on one word. He says we're focusing on one discipline in one grade level, just after Lowe says we aren't being specific. He says this a religious issue. "I wasn't given a rubber stamp when I was sworn in yesterday." O RLY?

Agosto: Praises standards writers. Playing for time.