Gird up now thy loins

Ahhh, winter break. I slept in this morning, leisurely checked a few things off my errands to-do list, and didn’t worry about waiting for the class change bell to use the bathroom. Now that I’m relaxed and temporarily free of lesson planning and grading responsibilities, it’s time to step back to take in the wider view outside of my classroom of what’s in store for science education in Florida in the coming months.

Or maybe I should just take a nap.

But no, you and I are forced to soldier on. We’re in a state where constant vigilance is needed to defend against ignorance and ideology raining down from Tallahassee. Let’s get to it.

First, take time to review developments reported in my most recent blog posts. In “It’s Going to be Ugly” I highlight how the next Florida legislative session is shaping up as known and potential anti-science lawmakers were re-elected or took on leadership positions. In “Textbook censoring, global warming denying creationists have been given the keys” I document how the increasingly well connected activist group Florida Citizens Alliance now has members advising our governor-elect on education matters. And in “Florida is once again ground zero for antiscience” I discuss a feature length magazine article that shows how the Florida Citizens Alliance operates.

Now that you have the background, let’s move forward. The National Center for Science Education, as always, has our back and is keeping the rest of the country informed about Florida science education issues: Trouble on the horizon in Florida? In that write-up they quote Education Week’s report on our governor-elect’s education transition team: Coming Soon to Florida: More Challenges for Districts’ Science Curricula?

Of course, it is not clear yet what DeSantis, Flaugh, or Donalds have in mind specifically for education. But at the very least, the dots are lining up here for a wave of new challenges. As I reported in my earlier story on the FCA, what separates it from other anti-evolution efforts is that these activists are working through the grassroots and training local activists in many counties. It’s not a stretch to assume that, with Flaugh and Donalds in a more powerful state role, people who share their views will feel emboldened to express them locally.

It’s possible that they will seek changes to the state textbook-adoption process, too; the FCA, in fact, backed a second bill that would have altered it, but that bill got stuck after legislators focused all their attention on school safety following the Parkland tragedy in February.

The Florida Citizens Alliance folks on the education transition team are now becoming lightning rods as the Florida Phoenix notes in: Critics want Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis to kick off 2 members of education advisory committee. The article gives examples of the many times the Alliance has tried to censor textbooks, such as:

A “flawed” environmental science book in the analysis has “extensive errors” and includes “major chapters that teach man-made global warming and evolution as proven science.”

Flaugh, of Florida Citizens’ Alliance, said he was not aware of the parent group that is calling for his ouster from the DeSantis transition committee. But he said that his organization has been criticized before, adding “Progressives are very upset that we’re defending our Constitutional rights.”

The Miami New Times followed up with a story of their own: Far-Right Anti-Climate Change, Anti-“Islam” Group Adivising DeSantis on Education. The story begins:

The Florida Citizens’ Alliance regularly rails against what it calls “cultural Marxism,” “LGBTQ values,” and “Islam” in Florida’s public schools. If a teacher happens to mention that the Founding Fathers were all white men and that many owned slaves, you bet the Alliance would get angry. The group also loses its collective mind when America’s obvious history of racism or climate change comes up in the classroom.

Two group members, naturally, are now “advising” Ron DeSantis, Florida’s newly elected governor.

We certainly don’t have to trust these news outlets’ analysis of the Alliance’s efforts. We can read it all for ourselves. For instance, their recently updated Objectionable Materials Report is a long list of literature and textbooks the group finds unsuitable for classroom use. Here is an excerpt from their science page:

Each of these 7 science books teaches evolution and man-made global warming as a fact not a theory as required by Florida Statutes. Much of the science of Darwin’s theory of evolution has been proven incorrect or at least seriously faulty by recent scientists in many fields: Paleontology, Genetics, Mathematics, Biology and more.

“HMD Environmental Science”, 2013 by Houghton, Mifflin, and Harcourt, Collier County
9 extensive errors, including major chapters that teach man-made global warming and evolution as proven science. This book is so flawed that it is not recommended for adoption.

“Essentials of Oceanography”, 2018, Pearson
Total miss-representation of Global warming and Evolution. This book is so flawed that it is not recommended for adoption.

“Florida Biology”, 2017, McGraw Hill
Total miss-representation of Evolution. This book is so flawed that it is not recommended for adoption.

“Human Genetics”, 2018 McGraw Hill
Total miss-representation of Evolution. This book is so flawed that it is not recommended for adoption.

“Elevate Science Earth”, 2019 Pearson
Total miss-representation of Global warming and Evolution. This book is so flawed that it is not recommended for adoption.

“Earth Science, Regular and Honors”, 2015, Pearson
Total miss-representation of Evolution. This book is so flawed that it is not recommended for adoption.

“Elevate Science Life”, 2019, Pearson
Total miss-representation of Evolution. This book is so flawed that it is not recommended for adoption.

And the Alliance has issued their 2019 Legislative Agenda. They want to modify existing textbook adoption laws yet again in an attempt to force school districts across the state to reject materials the Alliance doesn’t like. And they want to resurrect last year’s bill that would have allowed school districts to develop their own education standards as long as they are equal to or better than the state standards. There were a lot of problems what that bill last year. See our issues page about it: “Controversial Theories” Bills 2018. Thank goodness it never even got a committee hearing. One of the most significant issues was that it included a “controversial theories” section:

62 (b) Science standards must establish specific curricular
63 content for, at a minimum, the nature of science, earth and
64 space science, physical science, and life science. Controversial
65 theories and concepts must be taught in a factual, objective,
66 and balanced manner.

As strong advocates for quality science education, we here at Florida Citizens for Science are deeply troubled to see well known anti-science activists on the governor-elect’s education transition team. It’s alarming that people who aggressively challenged established scientific concepts like climate change and evolution in textbooks are being elevated to positions of potentially greater influence.

I know it’s the holidays. I know you are enjoying time with friends and family. But can you spare some time and effort to help prepare for what’s coming? Contact me. Let’s talk.