Buttars' draft legislation headed for the 2006 Legislature mandates that science teachers in Utah public schools not endorse a particular theory of how plants and animals came to exist in their present form and tell their students that scientists do not agree on the "origins of life" or the "origins of the human race."

What we're talking about, though Buttars' bill does not specifically say so, is the Darwinian theory of evolution, the mainstream scientific model for describing observable biological processes. Teaching Utah schoolchildren that evolution is no more accepted among scientists than other ideas - including the religious or philosophical - would be dishonest and would mislead Utah students who must eventually compete in the world with those whose teachers are not fettered by such nonsensical blinders.

Buttars stubbornly believes that a scientific theory is just one unproven idea of how something might work. He ignores that accepted theories must meet rigorous tests of observation and measurable physical evidence. Overwhelming evidence has led modern science to accept evolution as a fact for all practical purposes.

Understanding that, the State Board of Education in September courageously approved a position statement affirming that evolution is, indeed, "a necessary part of science classroom instruction." Buttars' irrational bill would force the board to adopt policies that are contrary to its well-reasoned statement and could make the state vulnerable to a lawsuit if, as Buttars hopes, science-class discussions include intelligent design as a plausible alternative to evolution.

A federal court ruling in Pennsylvania declared unconstitutional the teaching of intelligent design - a theory that life is too complex to be explained by evolution alone.

New York's Museum of the Earth has written a script for volunteers handling frequent challenges to evolution. The museum's answer: ''Essentially all available data and observations from the natural world support the hypothesis of evolution. No serious biologist or geologist today doubts whether evolution occurred."

To teach otherwise in Utah classrooms would be a travesty of education.