{"id":2805,"date":"2017-07-07T17:07:41","date_gmt":"2017-07-07T21:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=2805"},"modified":"2017-07-07T17:07:41","modified_gmt":"2017-07-07T21:07:41","slug":"dear-unbiased-and-qualified-hearing-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2805","title":{"rendered":"Dear Unbiased and Qualified Hearing Officer …"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida’s horrible new Instructional Materials and Religious Liberties in Schools laws are continuing to garner all sorts of news coverage. The latest pieces are great takes on the laws by popular columnists.<\/p>\n

First we have Fred Grimm’s thoughts in the Miami Herald, New education law allows anti-science mob to go after evolution and climate change<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Check the calendar: 2017, the year Florida relegated evolution to a tenuous supposition.<\/p>\n

Some 92 years after a substitute high school teacher named John T. Snopes stood trial for exposing students to Darwin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s theory of evolution through natural selection, Florida intends to force local school boards to re-litigate the old conflict between religious fundamentalism and modern science.<\/p>\n

Last month, Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill that will allow any county resident to challenge public school teaching materials they personally find unsuitable, inappropriate or pornographic. The law requires school boards to hire hearing officers to deal with complaints.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Palm Beach Posts’s Frank Cerabino clearly had fun when he wrote what he imagines could be citizen complaint letters to the hearing officers,\u00c2\u00a0Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s evolution to complainer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s paradise for public schools<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Dear Unbiased and Qualified Hearing Officer:<\/p>\n

So my cousin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nephew\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best friend\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s daughter tells me there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing about Noah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Ark in her public school textbook for Earth Science. How can this be?<\/p>\n

Instead of filling these kids\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 minds with nonsense about sedimentary rocks from billions of years ago (when we know the earth is only 6,000 years old!) they should be taught how they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all here today because the 600-year-old Noah loaded all the animals two-by-two on his big ark, and thereby preserved life on Earth.<\/p>\n

I believe without the ark, your explanation of the world fails being \u00e2\u20ac\u0153balanced and noninflammatory.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Which is why me and the others in the prayer circle are planning to show up for the public hearing we are entitled to under the new Instructional Materials Act passed by legislature.<\/p>\n

Just say when.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And speaking of funny yet sad, I have a quick story to tell you. I’ve been invited to appear on radio station WGCU’s Gulf Coast Live<\/a> show next Wednesday. The instructional materials law sponsor Rep. Byron Donalds<\/a> is also supposed to be a guest. The show’s producer tweeted about it and I responded, mentioning the fine folks at the Florida Citizens’ Alliance. (If you don’t know, the Alliance are the ones who wrote the law, recruited Donalds to sponsor the law, spoke at all of the committee hearings for the law and are now drinking champagne after their success.)<\/p>\n

\"tweet1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That was the one and only time I’ve ever mentioned the Alliance on Twitter. Minutes later I went back to check on something and I’ll be darned; the Alliance blocked me. Think they’re sensitive about something? I hadn’t mention anything specific in my tame tweet, but I sure as heck am going to now. Have a look at some of the Alliance’s greatest hits (I have more than one Twitter account, so I can still see their stuff):<\/p>\n

\"tweet2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"tweet3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I want to leave you with this final thought: these folks WON. They got their law passed.<\/p>\n

I’m sorry … this isn’t funny … it’s just plain sad.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida’s horrible new Instructional Materials and Religious Liberties in Schools laws are continuing to garner all sorts of news coverage. The latest pieces are great takes on the laws by popular columnists. First we have Fred Grimm’s thoughts in the … 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-Jf","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2639,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2639","url_meta":{"origin":2805,"position":0},"title":"Quick Bills Updates","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"March 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a quick update on the Religious Liberties and Instructional Materials bills we're watching in the Florida legislature. Religious Liberties: The bill successfully passed through all Senate committees and the full Senate approved it on a 23-13 vote. The House version successfully passed through all committees and is awaiting\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\/2017\/03\/Old_and_New_Florida_State_Capitol_Tallahassee_East_view_20160711_1-212x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2618,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2618","url_meta":{"origin":2805,"position":1},"title":"More press about bills","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"March 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"There are more news stories today about both the Religious Liberties bills and the Instructional Materials bills that we here at Florida Citizens for Science are opposed to and tracking. Naples Daily News:\u00c2\u00a0Senate committee pushes 'religious expression' bill forward Brandon Haught, a high school biology teacher representing the organization Florida\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":[]},{"id":2768,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2768","url_meta":{"origin":2805,"position":2},"title":"Give the Devil his Due","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"June 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"All has been very quiet concerning the odious instructional materials bill lately. The bill would allow any resident, not just parents, to protest against what's found in textbooks, including coverage of evolution, climate change, vaccines, etc. On top of that, school districts must appoint a hearing officer to consider such\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":[]},{"id":2955,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2955","url_meta":{"origin":2805,"position":3},"title":"The controversy “will never be over”","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"November 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Orlando Sentinel's School Zone blog posted a short story about the new \"controversial theories\" bill recently filed by Sen. Dennis Baxley:\u00c2\u00a0Sen. Baxley files school bill to require 'controversial' science topics be taught in 'balanced' way. State Sen. Dennis Baxley, who once said controversy about evolution being taught in public\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Controversial Theories bill 2017\/18"","block_context":{"text":"Controversial Theories bill 2017\/18","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=34"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2793,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2793","url_meta":{"origin":2805,"position":4},"title":"The fight will now be won or lost where you live.","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"June 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Unfortunately, the devious Instructional Materials bill, which creationists and climate change deniers absolutely love, is now signed into law by Governor Rick Scott. This means our fight is only just now beginning. Each and every one of us has to be on alert. You must keep an eye on your\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":[]},{"id":2798,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2798","url_meta":{"origin":2805,"position":5},"title":"Be informed. Be active.","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"July 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"There are two new laws here in Florida that will potentially impact science education in detrimental ways. I'm, of course, talking about the Instructional Materials law and the Religious Expression in Schools law. Florida Citizens for Science has been in the trenches fighting these harmful laws for quite a while.\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\/2805"}],"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=2805"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2810,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2805\/revisions\/2810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}