Rep. Charlie Howard's "Ode to Censorship" bill HB 220 is scheduled for a hearing today at 2 p.m. in the Public Ed Committee.

Chris Bell alerted us with this excerpt from a press release:

HB 220 would effectively repeal legislation passed in 1995 to prevent the State Board of Education from censoring content in Texas textbooks. This bill would permit SBOE members to insert their own political agenda into our kidsâ?? textbooks.

What exactly have the textbook censors objected to here in Texas?

• The scientifically established timeline of the creation of fossil fuels was rewritten to conform to Biblical timelines;
• Coverage of slavery and civil rights was downplayed because critics deemed the discussions unpatriotic and anti-Christian;
• A line drawing of the female breast intended to instruct young women to give themselves cancer self-examinations was censored as â??embarrassingâ?? and â??objectionable,â?? as were discussions of menstruation; and
• Critics testified that evolution â??relies largely on faithâ?? because it â??cannot be conclusively proven.â??