{"id":2658,"date":"2017-04-04T17:22:34","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T21:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=2658"},"modified":"2017-04-04T17:22:34","modified_gmt":"2017-04-04T21:22:34","slug":"who-will-defend-florida-science-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2658","title":{"rendered":"Who will defend Florida science education?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/house.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2598\"><img data-attachment-id=\"2598\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?attachment_id=2598\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/house.jpg?fit=225%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"225,225\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"house\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/house.jpg?fit=225%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/house.jpg?fit=225%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-2598\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/house-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150\" alt=\"house\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/house.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/house.jpg?w=225&amp;ssl=1 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>We&#8217;re facing an uphill battle as we fight against the Instructional Materials bills in the Florida legislature. We know these bills, if they become law, will almost guarantee a future fight over evolution and climate change in our classroom textbooks. It&#8217;s not just conjecture. We have unambiguous evidence.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.myfloridahouse.gov\/Sections\/Bills\/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=58685&amp;SessionId=83\">House version<\/a> sailed through its first two committee stops on 14 to 0 and 12 to 2 votes. It&#8217;s frustrating to watch this bill go largely unchallenged and to know our valid arguments are being ignored.<\/p>\n<p>But now is not the time to give up. We need to get louder. And now is your chance.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.myfloridahouse.gov\/Sections\/Committees\/committeesdetail.aspx?SessionId=83&amp;CommitteeId=2906\">House Education committee<\/a>, the last stop before the bill moves to the full House, is going to consider the bill Thursday at 8 a.m. Call the committee members. Email them. Visit them. Make sure they hear your opposition to this horrible bill. Let them know that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>HB 989 is unnecessary, since there is already a fair and tested procedure for lodging legitimate complaints about instructional materials;<\/li>\n<li>HB 989 would be used to launch scientifically unfounded attacks on climate change and evolution &#8212; as its supporters acknowledge (see our posts:\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=2623\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nowhere in the material is a balanced discussion of the biblical explanation&#8221;<\/a> \/\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=2633\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have witnessed children being taught that Global Warming is a reality\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a> \/\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=2645\">These dangerous bills need to be disarmed<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>HB 989 would cost local school boards money by forcing them to hire hearing officers to take such complaints seriously; and<\/li>\n<li>HB 989 would prolong such controversies indefinitely by rescinding the finality of the school board&#8217;s decision on complaints.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here&#8217;s the committee member list. How many of them will commit to supporting science education?<\/p>\n<p>Bileca, Michael [R] michael.bileca@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5115<br \/>\nCortes, Robert &#8220;Bob&#8221; [R] Bob.Cortes@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5030<br \/>\nJones, Shevrin D. &#8220;Shev&#8221; [D] Shevrin.Jones@myfloridahouse.gov(850) 717-5101<br \/>\nAhern, Larry [R] larry.ahern@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5066<br \/>\nAntone, Bruce [D] bruce.antone@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5046<br \/>\nAsencio, Robert [D] Robert.Asencio@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5118<br \/>\nBrown, Kamia L. [D] Kamia.Brown@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5045<br \/>\nDiaz, Jr., Manny [R] Manny.Diaz@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5103<br \/>\nDonalds, Byron [R] Byron.Donalds@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5080<br \/>\nLatvala, Chris [R] Chris.Latvala@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5067<br \/>\nLee, Jr., Larry [D] Larry.Lee@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5084<br \/>\nPlasencia, Rene &#8220;Coach P&#8221; [R] Rene.Plasencia@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5050<br \/>\nPonder, Mel [R] mel.ponder@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5004<br \/>\nPorter, Elizabeth W. [R] elizabeth.porter@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5010<br \/>\nRaburn, Jake [R] Jake.Raburn@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5057<br \/>\nRussell, Barrington A. &#8220;Barry&#8221; [D] Barrington.Russell@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5095<br \/>\nStone, Charlie [R] Charlie.Stone@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5022<br \/>\nSullivan, Jennifer Mae [R] Jennifer.Sullivan@myfloridahouse.gov (850) 717-5031<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We&#8217;re facing an uphill battle as we fight against the Instructional Materials bills in the Florida legislature. We know these bills, if they become law, will almost guarantee a future fight over evolution and climate change in our classroom textbooks. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2658\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[32,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-GS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2440,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2440","url_meta":{"origin":2658,"position":0},"title":"Session over; Instructional Materials bills dead","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"March 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Florida legislative session is mercifully over and the instructional materials bills we've been tracking are history. These ill-conceived bills would have changed the way textbooks and other educational tools are reviewed and selected, handing entirely too much power to well meaning but non-expert parents and not so well meaning,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Instructional Materials bills '16&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Instructional Materials bills '16","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=31"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Textbooks-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2402,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2402","url_meta":{"origin":2658,"position":1},"title":"Update on instructional materials bills","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Two companion bills have been filed in the Florida Senate and House that have a lot of potential for disrupting education in Florida schools. These instructional materials bills have more than one focus, but the one most concerning to us at Florida Citizens for Science is the back door it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Instructional Materials bills '16&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Instructional Materials bills '16","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=31"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Textbooks-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2431,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2431","url_meta":{"origin":2658,"position":2},"title":"Instructional Materials Bills Update","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"February 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"My column was published in the Community Voices section of today's Daytona Beach News Journal: Don't mix science, religion in public schools. It's a rebuttal to a previous column written by a Flagler County school board member. She supported the two very bad instructional materials bills currently languishing in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Instructional Materials bills '16&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Instructional Materials bills '16","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=31"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2397,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2397","url_meta":{"origin":2658,"position":3},"title":"Florida Citizens for Science News Release","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"News Release Lawmakers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Instructional Materials Proposal: Costly Headache for School Boards Jan 11, 2016 Florida Citizens for Science Florida Citizens for Science opposes companion bills filed in the Florida House and Senate, HB899 and SB1018, both entitled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Instructional Materials for K-12 Public Education.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d We assert that these bills are in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Instructional Materials bills '16&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Instructional Materials bills '16","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=31"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2567,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2567","url_meta":{"origin":2658,"position":4},"title":"It&#8217;s baaaaack: Instructional Materials bill filed","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"February 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year, Florida Citizens for Science voiced our opposition to bills filed in the Florida legislature that would have made significant changes to how textbooks and other instructional materials are selected and reviewed at the local school district level. The good news is that the bills died. The bad news\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Instructional Materials bills '17&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Instructional Materials bills '17","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=32"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2570,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2570","url_meta":{"origin":2658,"position":5},"title":"When more is not merrier","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"February 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We noted yesterday that the bad Instructional Materials bill from last year has been resurrected for another attempt this year in the Florida House. Unfortunately, the House bill now has a companion in the Senate that was filed today: SB 1210. I believe it's a duplicate of the House bill.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Instructional Materials bills '17&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Instructional Materials bills '17","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=32"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2658"}],"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=2658"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2660,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2658\/revisions\/2660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}