{"id":2741,"date":"2017-05-12T17:24:59","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T21:24:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=2741"},"modified":"2017-05-12T17:24:59","modified_gmt":"2017-05-12T21:24:59","slug":"nature-notes-one-bad-bill-no-one-notices-the-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2741","title":{"rendered":"Nature notes one bad bill; no one notices the other"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"nature-header.ed_400x400-150x150\"<\/a>The science journal Nature<\/em> published an article about antiscience bills that have cropped up across America, with a special focus on our very own Sunshine State:\u00c2\u00a0Revamped ‘anti-science’ education bills in United States find success<\/a>. The piece focuses on the instructional materials bill that pretty much sailed through the state House and Senate.<\/p>\n

The Florida legislation, for example, does not try to change state or district education standards. Instead, it enables any tax-paying resident of a given county to file complaints about the curriculum of the schools in their district. A complaint would trigger a public hearing to determine if the material in question is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153accurate, balanced, noninflammatory, current, free of pornography \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and suited to students\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 needs\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, according to the legislation.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But who decides what \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcbalanced\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcnoninflammatory\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 mean?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d asks Joan Bertin, executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship, based in New York City. Currently, instructional materials come from an approved list provided by the state, she says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, I think it’s important to note something missing from each and every news outlet’s coverage of Florida’s antiscience legislation. Even our friends at the National Center for Science Education never touched on it. No one ever talks about the religious liberties bill that also successfully made it through the lawmaking gauntlet. We here at Florida Citizens for Science were against that bill from the beginning because of its potential negative impact on science education. I even personally testified during public comment time at a Senate hearing about it. I encourage you to read through our series of posts on the bill<\/a>. Admittedly, we eventually took our focus off it, because it was clear we had no chance of stopping it and we felt that our time and energy were better spent on the instructional materials bill. But we’ve felt throughout that the religious liberties bill was still a threat to science education.<\/p>\n

We’ve been right all along<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The group [Florida Citizens’ Alliance] supported legislation that also passed Friday to protect students and educators who wish to express their religious beliefs in school from discrimination. If signed by the governor, Flaugh said his group will use it in conjunction with the instructional materials bill to contest textbooks that demonstrate \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bias toward Islam and seldom mention Christianity,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and promote those that push for a Christian view of the origins of life.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Darwin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s theory is a theory, and the biblical view is a theory, and our kids should be taught both in a balanced way,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Any time you take any action in protest against the implementation of the instructional materials bill, I encourage you to mention\u00c2\u00a0the religious liberties bill, too. They’re connected at the hip and we need the general public to be aware of that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The science journal Nature published an article about antiscience bills that have cropped up across America, with a special focus on our very own Sunshine State:\u00c2\u00a0Revamped ‘anti-science’ education bills in United States find success. The piece focuses on the instructional … Continue reading →<\/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":[32,33],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-Id","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3189,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3189","url_meta":{"origin":2741,"position":0},"title":"Alert: Bad Instructional Materials bill on the move!","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"February 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A bad Florida Senate bill we're watching is on the move! SB 1644 is on the education committee agenda for Tuesday, Feb. 6. The committee meets at 9 a.m. Senate Bill 1644 (and\u00c2\u00a0Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s House Bill 827) would, if enacted, revise the procedures for adopting instructional materials to permit members of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3147,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3147","url_meta":{"origin":2741,"position":1},"title":"The Florida House’s bad textbook bill now has a Senate companion","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Florida House Bill 827 (Instructional Materials), filed in November by Rep. Byron Donalds in preparation for the 2018 state legislative session proposes changes to several of our laws that govern the review and selection of instructional materials used in our public schools. It didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a Senate companion bill for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Textbooks"","block_context":{"text":"Textbooks","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=26"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3444,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3444","url_meta":{"origin":2741,"position":2},"title":"Getting ready for another wild ride in Tallahassee","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"March 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The state legislative session kicks off Tuesday. We here at Florida Citizens for Science are as busy as can be as we monitor several bad bills filed in the legislature that can negatively impact science education. Additionally, the review of all academic standards directed by Gov. Ron DeSantis has a\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2397,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2397","url_meta":{"origin":2741,"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 "Instructional Materials bills '16"","block_context":{"text":"Instructional Materials bills '16","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=31"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2421,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2421","url_meta":{"origin":2741,"position":4},"title":"They’re not dead yet & Getting the word out there","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"February 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In my previous post I said that the \"instructional materials\" bills in the state legislature don't look like they're going anywhere. But I also said that they can't be considered dead yet. I was right:\u00c2\u00a0'No bill is dead' in Florida Senate Education, chairman says. Chairman John Legg told the Gradebook\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Instructional Materials bills '16"","block_context":{"text":"Instructional Materials bills '16","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=31"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2788,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2788","url_meta":{"origin":2741,"position":5},"title":"Your last chance to stop bill loved by creationists is now!","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"June 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This is it, ladies and gentlemen. You've been hearing about it from us for months now. The bill that would empower creationists, climate change deniers, anti-vaccine proponents, and other factual science education foes to challenge the textbooks and other instructional materials in school districts across the state is on the\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":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2741"}],"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=2741"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2743,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2741\/revisions\/2743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}