The Florida Board of Education officially upheld evolution yesterday.

The board didn't quite mean to do that, of course. In a 4-3 vote, the Board accepted a proposed curriculum that replaced all references to evolution with the phrase "the scientific theory of evolution." In so doing, the board inadvertently made evolution central to public school science education, and also, almost incidentally, mandated education on just what constitutes a "scientific theory."
Until now, Florida's schools weren't required to teach evolution. The old curriculum guidelines didn't even mention it by name.
That state education officials would approve the new standards was not a foregone conclusion. Since last November, 12 county school boards passed resolutions calling for classroom evolution to be balanced by "alternatives" -- a polite euphemism for religiously orthodox explanations of life. The resolutions were non-binding, but raised fears that that the Board of Education would try to duck controversy by diluting the new standards.

Apart from being illegal, teaching creationism as science is a very bad idea. Students may not be permanently scarred by failing to learn about evolution at an early age -- though the National Academy of Science would surely disagree -- but, they're bound to be stunted if told that evolution and creationism are even remotely equivalent in any scientific sense.