Texan Contradiction

Is it just me, or is a legislative act that has been proposed in Texas recently, aiming to exempt religiously-affiliated educational institutions from state regulation, inherently self-contradictory?
Here’s the text of the bill, which is available online here:

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

relating to exempting certain private nonprofit educational
institutions from state regulation applicable to degree-granting
institutions.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 61.3031 to read as follows:

Sec. 61.3031. EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN PRIVATE NONPROFIT
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. (a) The provisions of this subchapter
do not apply to a private educational institution, including a
separate degree-granting program, unit, or school operated by the
institution, that:
(1) does not accept state funding of any kind to
support its educational programs;
(2) does not accept state-administered federal
funding to support its educational programs;
(3) was formed as or is affiliated with or controlled
by a nonprofit corporation or nonprofit unincorporated
organization; and
(4) offers bona fide degree programs that require
students to complete substantive course work in order to receive a
degree from the institution.
(b) On the written request of a person acting on behalf of an
institution that claims to be exempt from this subchapter as
provided by this section, the board may issue a letter certifying a
determination by the board that the institution is not subject to
regulation under this subchapter.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.

According to the legislation, the institution has to be one that “offers bona fide degree programs that require students to complete substantive course work in order to receive a degree from the institution”. But how on earth do you ensure that without the oversight and accreditation procedures that this bill is designed to exempt them from?

No one who keeps an eye on education laws will be surprised to learn that this is probably aimed at allowing the Institute for Creation Research to offer “degrees” (yes, those are indeed ironic scare quotes used appropriately). The National Center for Science Education has more information on the subject.

The heart of the matter in brief is this: if organizations like this one were interested in offering “bona fide degree programs that require students to complete substantive course work” that deserves to be labelled education because it accurately reflects our current state of knowledge, they wouldn’t need to rewrite the laws in this way.

John Pieret puts it well: “If this bill is enacted, not only will truth in education suffer, so will truth in advertising.”