A bill to protect teachers who present “the full range of views” on evolution is gaining ground in the Florida legislature. Critics say that if the bill is passed administrators will not be able to discipline teachers who deviate from the recently approved state education standards supporting the teaching of evolution.

“It's a really, really bad bill,” says Joe Wolf, president of Florida Citizens for Science. “Any teacher who wants to can slip in a religious idea, intelligent design or the flying spaghetti monster, and they can't be fired.”

The 'academic freedom' bill borrows language from a template put together by the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think-tank known for its work on intelligent design.

Last week, the bill cleared committees in both chambers of the Florida legislature. Final votes are expected by early May.