{"id":2969,"date":"2017-11-26T14:59:13","date_gmt":"2017-11-26T19:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=2969"},"modified":"2017-11-26T14:59:13","modified_gmt":"2017-11-26T19:59:13","slug":"teaching-that-global-warming-is-caused-by-human-activity-is-blatant-indoctrination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2969","title":{"rendered":"Teaching that global warming is caused by human activity is “blatant indoctrination”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Associated Press issued a story today about the new Instructional Materials bill approved by our Florida legislature and signed by our governor earlier this year:\u00c2\u00a0New Florida law expected to increase conflict over textbooks<\/a>. Reporter Terry Spencer took on the massive task of asking every Florida school district for records of any textbook challenges so far. A few have popped up, such as:<\/p>\n

In Nassau County, north of Jacksonville, a resident challenged the teaching of evolution, arguing that life was created and perhaps planted by space aliens. No hearing has been held.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I already wrote about this (Nassau County complaint: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stop promoting this scientifically inadequate theory of evolution as fact to our students\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a>), but I think the reporter is wrong about one thing. I believe a hearing was held earlier this month. I’m waiting for a reply to a public records request I had submitted to confirm that. And this Tampa Bay Time Gradebook Blog post says that a hearing was held:\u00c2\u00a0Pro-science group warns of textbook challenge in Nassau County schools<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Ray Poole, the Nassau district’s legal counsel, told the Gradebook on Wednesday that an independent local attorney recently conducted a hearing on the book challenge and is preparing a summary to present to the School Board.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Another science-related complaint the AP reporter found:<\/p>\n

In Brevard County, home of the Kennedy Space Center, a Citizens\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Alliance couple filed challenges against elementary school social studies textbooks, alleging each has dozens of inaccuracies. They say authors frequently ignore American exceptionalism and the books\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 assertion that global warming is caused by human activity is “blatant indoctrination.” The district says no changes were made.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ll need to look into that one. If I can get my hands on that complaint, I’ll share it. And did a hearing lead to the “no changes” determination or was there no hearing? Is there anyone in Brevard County who would like to help track this down?<\/p>\n

Also of note is yet another instance on the record of the Florida Citizens’ Alliance protesting against established science:<\/p>\n

The Florida Citizens\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Alliance, a conservative group, pushed for the change, arguing that many districts ignored challenges or heard them with stacked committees, and didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t consider residents who don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have children in the schools. […] They also don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe evolution and global warming should be taught without students hearing counterarguments.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And I’m happy with my rather bold response:<\/p>\n

Brandon Haught, spokesman for Florida Citizens for Science, which opposed the bill, said his group is prepared to fight any challenges made against the teaching of evolution and climate change, which nearly all biologists and climatologists agree are proven facts. Haught, a high school environmental science teacher, said he is surprised social studies and English teachers have not formed similar coalitions to defend their courses.<\/p>\n

“The alliance is pushing their narrow ideology on the public schools in any way they can and so far they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re meeting with success. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t speak for the other academic subjects they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re targeting, but I know beyond a doubt that their ideology when it comes to science is grossly ignorant and doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t belong anywhere near a classroom,” Haught said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile in Marion County …<\/h3>\n

And now is a good time to report on an issue in Marion County I brought up Nov. 10<\/a>. In a news story about Marion County’s decision to review and approve instructional materials on their own rather rely on a state-approved list was this:\u00c2\u00a0Superintendent Dr. Heidi “Maier was receiving complaints about the district\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s science and history books …” I sent a public records request to Marion County asking for copies of those complaints. Their response was that there were none. I then asked them why Dr. Maier mentioned the complaints and the response I got back was: “In speaking with three different departments, including our superintendent, we have received various informal complaints via verbal communications; however, no formal written complaints have been submitted nor exist on file within your stated timeframe.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Associated Press issued a story today about the new Instructional Materials bill approved by our Florida legislature and signed by our governor earlier this year:\u00c2\u00a0New Florida law expected to increase conflict over textbooks. Reporter Terry Spencer took on 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":[32,26],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-LT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2997,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2997","url_meta":{"origin":2969,"position":0},"title":"Nassau County textbook challenge: “Bacteria to man evolution is not supported by science”","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"December 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Nassau County is the first school district I'm aware of that has been faced with a citizen's challenge to topics in the schools' science instructional materials. I told you about this back in early November (Nassau County complaint: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stop promoting this scientifically inadequate theory of evolution as fact to our\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":3274,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3274","url_meta":{"origin":2969,"position":1},"title":"Press Release: Balancing Evolution & Creationism in Schools Unconstitutional","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"May 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Florida Citizens for Science News Release (May 13, 2018) --------------------------------------------- BALANCING EVOLUTION AND CREATIONISM IN SCHOOLS UNCONSTITUTIONAL Attempts to alter science textbooks in Collier, Martin and Nassau Counties are a waste of school boards\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 time, money and could lead to costly lawsuits --------------------------------------------- Contact: Brandon Haught \/\u00c2\u00a0bhaught@flascience.org \/ www.flascience.org Citizens\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2938,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2938","url_meta":{"origin":2969,"position":2},"title":"Nassau County complaint: “stop promoting this scientifically inadequate theory of evolution as fact to our students”","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"November 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Florida has a new law this year that allows any citizen, even if he or she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a child in the school system, to challenge contents of instructional materials used in the local public schools. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like something you see in a textbook? File a complaint with your local\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":3306,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3306","url_meta":{"origin":2969,"position":3},"title":"Collier County textbook hearing: 30 complaints about evolution & climate change","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"June 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Heads up, folks. Collier County\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s official textbook hearing will be on Monday, June 18, and the public is invited to attend and be heard. Go to the instructional materials website where the guidelines for the meeting and the long list on citizen complaints against evolution and climate change being in\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3306#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3027,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3027","url_meta":{"origin":2969,"position":4},"title":"Following up on Nassau County shenanigans","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"December 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I told you about the interesting conversation about evolution at a recent Nassau County School Board meeting a few days ago (Meanwhile, in Nassau County: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I thought evolution was a bunch of baloney\u00e2\u20ac\u009d). Now, the local weekly newspaper published a story about it: Science Education Discussed at NCSB. Unfortunately, it's\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":3020,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3020","url_meta":{"origin":2969,"position":5},"title":"Meanwhile, in Nassau County: “I thought evolution was a bunch of baloney”","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"December 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A Nassau County resident protested to the school board in November about evolution being taught in schools. He asked that the board approve the placement of disclaimer stickers in all textbooks that mention evolution. The school board made the right decision Thursday, voting unanimously against that idea. Even though 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\/2969"}],"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=2969"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2973,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2969\/revisions\/2973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}