Did Someone Say, “Controversial Issues”? Because I Heard, “Trojan Horse.”

The struggle continues onward with the reindeer hit mainly by the plane in Maine, but also with the latest “controversial issues” measure. This is a new tactic and a common one.

The proper move, politically and legally, is an identification of the move and then steadfast work against it. The tactics tend to stay the same. The titles and names tend to be different.

There is a bill within the Maine legislature that would, in fact, require the public school teachers to follow a code of conduct. That’s not bad, in fact. But the content is the questionable part of it.

There is a background context. The NCSE reported on the fifth measure of its type in 2019 alone. There are “South Dakota’s House Concurrent Resolution 1002 and House Bill 1113, Virginia’s House Joint Resolution 684, and Arizona’s House Bill 2002.”

The Maine Legislative Document 589 (House Paper 433), prefiled in the Maine House of Representatives, could require the state board of education to adopt an ethics code — again, ethics are good — but the code would prevent public school teachers from engaging in “political or ideological indoctrination.”

This would make the topics appearing on platforms of a state political party subject to open questioning and, thus, creating a basis for questioning scientific truths via questioning of party platforms. The big issue is the fact that a large number of the party platforms, at the state level, mention evolution via natural selection and anthropogenic climate change.