{"id":2955,"date":"2017-11-22T13:35:25","date_gmt":"2017-11-22T18:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=2955"},"modified":"2017-11-22T13:35:25","modified_gmt":"2017-11-22T18:35:25","slug":"the-controversy-will-never-be-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2955","title":{"rendered":"The controversy &#8220;will never be over&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Orlando Sentinel&#8217;s School Zone blog posted a short story about the new &#8220;controversial theories&#8221; bill recently filed by Sen. Dennis Baxley:\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.orlandosentinel.com\/features\/education\/school-zone\/os-florida-senate-evolution-science-standards-baxley-20171120-story.html\">Sen. Baxley files school bill to require &#8216;controversial&#8217; science topics be taught in &#8216;balanced&#8217; way<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>State Sen. Dennis Baxley, who once said controversy about evolution being taught in public schools \u00e2\u20ac\u0153will never be over,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d wants to make Florida school districts teach \u00e2\u20ac\u0153controversial theories\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in science subjects in a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153balanced\u00e2\u20ac\u009d manner.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/flat-earth.jpg\"><img data-attachment-id=\"2958\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?attachment_id=2958\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/flat-earth.jpg?fit=350%2C314&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"350,314\" 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=\"flat earth\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/flat-earth.jpg?fit=300%2C269&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/flat-earth.jpg?fit=350%2C314&amp;ssl=1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-2958 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/flat-earth-150x150.jpg?resize=160%2C160\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/flat-earth.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/flat-earth.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=160%2C160&amp;ssl=1 320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>It&#8217;s just a quick story with no new quotes. I imagine details will emerge\u00c2\u00a0when reporters can interview Baxley after the Thanksgiving holiday. Nonetheless, the word about this bill is starting to spread. A reporter for the Palm Beach Democrat <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sun-sentinel.com\/news\/politics\/power-lunch\/sfl-palm-beach-democrat-chair-terrie-rizzo-running-for-state-s-top-spot-20171121-htmlstory.html\">offered a strong opinion about it<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Baxley is the former executive director of the Christian Coalition of Florida, and similar language has been used in other states to force science classes to treat evolution as though it were controversial when it is not. Neither is climate change. Or the moon landing. As a journalist, I&#8217;m all about being factual, objective and balanced, but I also don&#8217;t feel a need to get a quote from a flat-earther every time I mention our planet.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The story is also making the rounds on Twitter where one person tweeted: &#8220;Bills going nowhere for $500 Alex.&#8221; In other words, that person is predicting the bill will sputter and die. We absolutely can&#8217;t let that dismissive attitude flourish! We must treat this bill seriously and do everything we can to defeat it. Keep in mind these points:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Baxley sponsored last session&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?cat=33\">Religious Liberties in Schools bill <\/a>(link goes to our blog category of all posts on that topic) that successfully became law. This law will eventually open up a Pandora&#8217;s Box of trouble for a school district should any teachers or school staff decide that it protects their right to freely express religious beliefs to students.<\/li>\n<li>Last session&#8217;s horrible <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?cat=32\">Instructional Materials bill<\/a> (link goes to our blog category of all posts on that topic) successfully became law and has already led to one school district having to deal with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=2938\">a citizen protesting evolution&#8217;s place in the schools&#8217; textbooks<\/a>. It&#8217;s not a matter of if, but when more complaints pop up.<\/li>\n<li>The Instructional Materials bill was written and heavily promoted by the Florida Citizens Alliance. That group went on the record several times <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/frontline\/article\/a-new-wave-of-bills-takes-aim-at-science-in-the-classroom\/\">complaining about evolution and climate change<\/a>:\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153[Florida Citizens\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Alliance\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Keith] Flaugh said his group will use it [Religious Liberties bill] in conjunction with the instructional materials bill to contest textbooks that demonstrate \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcbias toward Islam and seldom mention Christianity,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and promote those that push for a Christian view of the origins of life. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcDarwin\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\u2122 he said.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=2933\">The Alliance is also behind this new &#8220;controversial theories&#8221; bill<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Bills directly targeting evolution were approved by the Florida House and Senate back in 2008. The only reason they didn&#8217;t become law was that the two versions needed to be reconciled but weren&#8217;t by the time the session ended.<\/li>\n<li>Oh by the way, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brandonhaught.com\/book\/\">I wrote a book that&#8217;s all about Florida&#8217;s constant conflicts over evolution in the schools<\/a>. I&#8217;m also a high school science teacher. I know what I&#8217;m talking about.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Yes, this is serious. We can&#8217;t let Florida follow\u00c2\u00a0Louisiana down the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Anti-evolution_legislation\">&#8220;academic freedom act&#8221; rabbit hole<\/a>. Start contacting your local lawmakers now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Orlando Sentinel&#8217;s School Zone blog posted a short story about the new &#8220;controversial theories&#8221; bill recently filed by Sen. Dennis Baxley:\u00c2\u00a0Sen. Baxley files school bill to require &#8216;controversial&#8217; science topics be taught in &#8216;balanced&#8217; way. State Sen. Dennis Baxley, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2955\">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":[34],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-LF","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3417,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3417","url_meta":{"origin":2955,"position":0},"title":"Florida Senator: schools need to teach &#8216;different worldviews&#8217; on issues like evolution and climate change","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Senator Dennis Baxley filed Senate Bill 330 recently, a piece of legislation that puts the teaching of evolution and climate change in Florida public schools directly in his line of fire. Up until now, all we knew for sure was that he filed a bill that would allow school districts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Controversial Theories bill 2019&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Controversial Theories bill 2019","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=36"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3431,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3431","url_meta":{"origin":2955,"position":1},"title":"News Roundup 2\/9\/19: Sen. Baxley takes a pounding","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"February 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Several opinion pieces were published since my last news roundup just one week ago. Every one of them tears into state senator Dennis Baxley's bill that attacks so-called \"controversial theories\" in science classrooms. If you need a primer about this bill, check out our issues page:\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Controversial Theories\/Rigorous Standards\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bills 2019.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/eastman.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2951,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2951","url_meta":{"origin":2955,"position":2},"title":"&#8220;Controversial theories&#8221; science education bill filed in Florida senate","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"November 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a live one. This past Friday Sen. Dennis Baxley filed a bill in our state legislature concerning public education. Senate Bill 966\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s purpose is to revise \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards; providing that such standards are the minimum baseline core content standards for K-12 public schools.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Controversial Theories bill 2017\/18&quot;","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":3395,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3395","url_meta":{"origin":2955,"position":3},"title":"&#8220;Controversial Theories&#8221; bill returns to Florida senate","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A bill was pre-filed for the 2019 legislative session in the Florida senate that would impact the standards for all academic subjects, especially science. The bill proposes allowing school districts to adopt their own sets of educational standards if they are equal to or more rigorous than the state's educational\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Controversial Theories bill 2019&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Controversial Theories bill 2019","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=36"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3423,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3423","url_meta":{"origin":2955,"position":4},"title":"News Roundup 2\/2\/19: Controversial Theories in Science bill","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"February 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"There was quite a flurry of news earlier this week about the bill filed in the state senate that would allow Florida school districts to create\/adopt their own sets of academic standards as long as they are equally or more rigorous than the state's standards. 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It was introduced quietly last Friday and as soon as I was alerted to it I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Controversial Theories bill 2017\/18&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Controversial Theories bill 2017\/18","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=34"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955"}],"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=2955"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2961,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955\/revisions\/2961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}