As is noted in your link, this is not just a Texas educational issue. It's far more widespread than that.
This was in regards to the science texts, but it applies here as well.
Snip from the NYT in January:
The debate here has far-reaching consequences; Texas is one of the nation’s biggest buyers of textbooks, and publishers are reluctant to produce different versions of the same material.
Many biologists and teachers said they feared that the board would force textbook publishers to include what skeptics see as weaknesses in Darwin’s theory to sow doubt about science and support the Biblical version of creation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/education/22texas.html?_r=1Snip from FOX in January:
A battle is brewing in Texas that could change the nation's science textbooks and the way evolution is taught in school.
<snip>
The significance of the Texas ruling could impact textbooks nationwide.
Since Texas is the second largest consumer of textbooks in the U.S., publishers often create a book that meets Texas standards and then sell the same version to school districts across the country.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,506724,00.htmlFinal outcome on that vote:
Texas science education debate over - but the win is a loss
he final vote was cast today in Texas as to the fate of the "strengths and weaknesses" language that was proposed to be put back into science education standards. That idea was abandoned. However, this is not a time to celebrate.
Though that particular language was dismissed, what was voted in instead is equally disturbing. By a vote of 13-2, teachers will now be required "to encourage students to scrutinize 'all sides' of scientific theories," according to one report.
The problem with this is that there are many people who still contend that Intelligent Design, which is creationism in disguise, is a scientific proposition. No real scientist holds this to be true. The new language leaves science education open to the injection of creationism ideas. So, religion will now be an accepted part of the science curriculum. And this new standard will be in place for the next decade!
http://www.examiner.com/x-2430-Science-Examiner~y2009m3d27-Texas-science-education-debate-over--but-the-win-is-a-lossThese idiots are not just impacting Texas' educational standards. Which is what's really terrifying.