Florida Citizens for Science

An Orlando Sentinel newspaper columnist pokes Cheri Yecke a little concerning the open education commissioner job:

Keep an eye on . . . Cheri Yecke. The state’s education-commissioner job is vacant. And, as the state’s K-12 chancellor, Yecke might seem like a likely applicant. But that would be a mistake. Jeb Bush, after all, brought in a lightning rod when he hired Yecke in 2005. Before that, she had a similar job in Minnesota — and was involved in one controversy after another. There were debates over evolution, creationism, revisionist history and more. In fact, the Minnesota Legislature ultimately tossed her out of her job there before Jeb scooped her up. Yecke actually hasn’t done much pot-stirring since she came to Florida. But Charlie Crist has taken too many moderate strides and made too many promises about education reform to start taking chances here.

The St. Lucie School System is taking a step in the right direction concerning science education. Science understanding requires a firm foundation built as early as possible in children’s lives. So, a group of elementary school teachers were treated to a week of science to get them thinking about how to incorporate the subject into their lesson plans.

While students don’t face the FCAT science section until fifth grade, the district mandates kindergartners should understand concepts like pull and push and what soil plants need to grow. Those items eventually create a foundation for future years learning science.

…

… many teachers don’t have a firm foundation in science and that could spell trouble for teaching the subject, said Teri Barenbourg, who just finished her first year overseeing elementary science programs.