A supercell thunderstorm over the Oklahoma prairie. Photo by Raychel Sanner on Unsplash.
Oklahoma's Senate Bill 1237 (PDF), which would, if enacted, have created a "Teachers' Bill of Rights" and empower science denial in the classroom, died on March 26, 2026, when a deadline for bills to pass their chamber of origin expired.
The bill would have established, among other things, a teacher's "right to be protected by school administrators when helping students better understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the strengths and weaknesses of existing theories, issues, and subjects which may be controversial when covered in a course being taught using evidence-based, peer-reviewed material."
The specific language is identical to language in previous bills in the Oklahoma legislature clearly aimed at undermining the teaching of evolution, most recently Senate Bill 140 (PDF) from 2023, which died in committee. Senate Bill 1237's sponsor, David R. Bullard (R-District 6), is also the sponsor of Senate Bill 1868, which would have required teachers who teach evolution also to teach creationism, as NCSE previously reported.
Before dying, Senate Bill 1237 passed the Senate Education Committee on a 7-4 vote on February 17, 2026.
