"Controversial issues" bill in South Dakota defeated

South Dakota's House Bill 1113 (PDF), which would require local school boards to adopt a code of ethics to prevent "political or ideological indoctrination," was defeated in the House Education Committee on February 11, 2019, when the committee voted 11-3 to defer further consideration of it to the 41st legislative day. There are forty days in the legislative session.

As Ars Technica (January 29, 2019) explained with reference to a spate of similar measures, "the bills would call for teachers not to advocate on any topics that have appeared in the platform of a state political party. ... Which is problematic, given that a large number of state party platforms specifically mention evolution and climate change." 

Similar measures introduced in 2019 include South Dakota's House Concurrent Resolution 1002, Maine's House Paper 433Virginia's House Joint Resolution 684, and Arizona's House Bill 2002. Also currently active in South Dakota is House Bill 1270, which would allow the misrepresentation of science in the classroom.