Teachers at a Christian school in Louisiana tell students in biology class that the Loch Ness monster is real and that it's a dinosaur. Good for them. It's a private school. They can see the world anyway they want as long it's on their own dime. In Louisiana, however, taxpayer-supported school vouchers help pay for that classroom experience. Public money for private, religious education is fine with the state's politicians, as long as its the right religion. That the program also supports other viewpoints, including horror of horrors Muslim schools, has lawmakers upset.

Texas GOP against critical thinkingLouisiana’s way of thinking, or not thinking, goes right along with the platform of the Texas GOP, which has stood up and said that it's harmful for students to use their minds because they might start questioning what they read and hear. This is straight from the state's GOP website: "We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority."