The state that once put John Scopes on trial for teaching about evolution is at it again: Yesterday, Tennessee legislators approved a bill that would allow public school teachers to challenge scientific consensus on issues like evolution and climate change under the guise of "academic freedom." The bill directs administrators to create an environment that encourages students to "explore scientific questions, learn about scientific evidence, develop critical thinking skills, and respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about scientific subjects." While it doesn't require that teachers critique consensus views of evolution, climate change, and "the chemical origins of life," it does allow teachers to introduce "alternative" theories, however baseless, without reproach, and makes state education standards fuzzier at the classroom level.