{"id":2019,"date":"2014-02-14T13:00:49","date_gmt":"2014-02-14T17:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=2019"},"modified":"2014-06-22T17:07:56","modified_gmt":"2014-06-22T21:07:56","slug":"details-emerge-about-textbook-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2019","title":{"rendered":"Details emerge about textbook bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I’ve noted before<\/a>, there is a bill in the state legislature that proposes to turn review and selection of all public school textbooks over to local school districts, removing state-level government from the process completely.<\/p>\n

In today’s Tampa Bay Times there is now a more in-depth story: Bill aims to end state control of textbook selection<\/a>. The article reveals that Sen. Alan Hays, who filed the bill, was responding to a protest that flared up in Volusia County late last year over a history textbook.<\/p>\n

I live in Volusia County, and so I’m familiar with what happened. Some citizens felt that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153World History\u00e2\u20ac\u009d published by Prentice Hall promoted Islam while neglecting Christianity and Judaism. The protesters took their complaints to the school board and got folks so stirred up that one school board meeting was postponed at the last minute due to security concerns. When the board finally met at a later date, they resisted the pressure and approved the textbook. The protesters had failed to take the entire curriculum into account. Christianity and Judaism are in fact fully covered in sixth grade. Islam is in the high school portion of the curriculum and therefore was featured in the challenged \u00e2\u20ac\u0153World History\u00e2\u20ac\u009d book. Nonetheless, the protesters are still brainstorming ideas about how to overcome their defeat.<\/p>\n

Earlier reports about Hays’ bill said that it was filed in response to “complaints from Florida school district leaders” and that “constituents and school board members have made clear their desire.” But today’s story casts doubt on those assertions.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Pinellas School Board chairwoman Carol Cook said of Hays’ proposal.
\n…
\nJust last year, lawmakers gave districts the option of ignoring the state textbook adoption system in favor of a local one. None have done so.<\/p>\n

“The problem that I see with it is, we’re going to have all of the textbook companies and publishers going to each of the districts and taking a lot of time away from our staff, and putting a lot of pressure on them,” Cook said.
\n…
\nSome watchdogs worry that book battles like Volusia’s could become more common if the process falls to the districts.<\/p>\n

“If the responsibility shifts fully to individual school boards, how do we know if anything questionable makes it into the classroom?” Florida Citizens for Science wrote on its blog.<\/p>\n

That potential also troubled FSBA president Hightower.<\/p>\n

“I’m a little concerned about individuals in local districts trying to hijack the process,” she said. “As we’re moving toward higher standards, we want to make sure all our materials reflect that higher standard.”<\/p>\n

Lobbyists for Florida’s school boards and superintendents said they did not ask for Hays’ bill.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m glad the reporter included this, too:<\/p>\n

Textbook adoptions in other states also face criticism because of how they get politicized. In 2013, the Texas Board of Education filled its science textbook review panel with creationists, who aimed to add disclaimers on evolution.<\/p>\n

That type of controversy has not dogged Florida, where the process has been viewed as fair. The state has convened committees to vet books against standards and recommend options to districts, which then do another review before making selections.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That directly relates to some points I made in my previous post:<\/p>\n

Sen. Hays was a sponsor of anti-evolution legislation back in 2008. Second, a few school boards back then revealed themselves to be dominated by anti-evolution advocates when they passed resolutions asking evolution to be downplayed in the state science standards. Will a creationist-leaning school board consider textbooks or supplemental materials from A Beka Book<\/a>, for example. Would that be allowed under Hays\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 bill?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I’ve noted before, there is a bill in the state legislature that proposes to turn review and selection of all public school textbooks over to local school districts, removing state-level government from the process completely. In today’s Tampa Bay … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-wz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2318,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2318","url_meta":{"origin":2019,"position":0},"title":"Textbook trouble: history and sex ed","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"June 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Lee County school board will hear from concerned citizens this week about the content of history textbooks under consideration for adoption. Board documents show nine objections have been filed for a sixth-grade world history text published by Pearson. Among the complaints for the book, called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153my (sic) World History,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2318#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2066,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2066","url_meta":{"origin":2019,"position":1},"title":"Editorial blasts textbook bill","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"March 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"An editorial in the Orlando Sentinel tears Senator Hays' textbook approval process bill to shreds: Don't leave textbook vetting to local districts. State Sen. Alan Hays, a Umatilla Republican whose district abuts Volusia County, isn't letting the facts get in the way of a bad proposal. A bill he sponsored\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3175,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3175","url_meta":{"origin":2019,"position":2},"title":"You haven’t nodded off, have you?","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I hope all of you out there across Florida are still alert and active! It's science textbook adoption season and we need\u00c2\u00a0 you to look alive. Do you know when your school district is opening up textbook review to the general public? Here in my district, Volusia County, public review\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Textbooks"","block_context":{"text":"Textbooks","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=26"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/textbookskulls-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2725,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2725","url_meta":{"origin":2019,"position":3},"title":"Creationist-enabling bill passes; what can you do now?","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"May 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Florida Citizens for Science membership is dismayed that House Bill 989, a proposed law that will affect how instructional materials for our schools are selected and challenged, passed its final vote in the Senate 19 to 17. We believe that should this bill become law with the governor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s signature,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Instructional Materials bills '17"","block_context":{"text":"Instructional Materials bills '17","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=32"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/textbookskulls-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2061,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2061","url_meta":{"origin":2019,"position":4},"title":"Textbook controversy article","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"March 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I was quoted in an article published today about the bill in the state legislature that purposes to change the way textbooks are selected here in Florida: Volusia textbook controversy prompts legislation. My quote about conservative school boards reads harsher than I had intended. I was explaining to the reporter\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2061#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2122,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2122","url_meta":{"origin":2019,"position":5},"title":"Evolution in the Florida news","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"April 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Two stories featuring good ol' evolution popped up in the Florida news. First, a bill in the state legislature right now that would remove state government from the textbook selection process motivated a group to take to the streets to voice their opposition. AWAKE Volusia rallies against possible textbook changes\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2122#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2019"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2019"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2020,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2019\/revisions\/2020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}