AZ Senator Prefiles Bill Requiring Public Schools to Teach “Intelligent Design”

On December 11, 2025, Arizona Senator David Farnsworth (R-10) prefiled Senate Bill 1025 that, if enacted, would require the teaching of “intelligent design” in all public schools that also teach about evolution by natural selection. When asked about what, if any, science existed to support the theory of intelligent design, Farnsworth said, “I don’t need to prove that to you.”

According to the Arizona Daily Star, “[t]he legality of the proposal is in question.” In Edwards v. Aguillard (1987), the Supreme Court held that a Louisiana law, which prohibited teaching the theory of evolution in public schools unless creationism was taught concurrently, violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The proposed Arizona bill would also violate the decision in Kitzmiller v. Dover (2005), in which a federal court ruled that teaching intelligent design as “scientifically credible” violated the U.S. Constitution.