{"id":3184,"date":"2018-02-03T16:37:28","date_gmt":"2018-02-03T21:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3184"},"modified":"2018-02-03T16:50:38","modified_gmt":"2018-02-03T21:50:38","slug":"clay-county-superintendent-in-no-way-shape-or-form-do-our-textbooks-or-will-our-textbooks-ever-reflect-evolution-as-a-fact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3184","title":{"rendered":"Clay County superintendent: “In no way, shape or form do our textbooks or will our textbooks ever reflect evolution as a fact …”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This year school districts across Florida are adopting new science textbooks. In many of those districts the process is pretty far along, with committees already having looked at the options and made their selections. Then the materials are offered to the public for viewing and comments. For instance, I know that the public review is going on right now in my school district. And finally, over the next few months we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see school boards voting on the adoption of those materials.<\/p>\n

I guarantee many of those board meetings will not go well.<\/p>\n

Clay County is an example. Evolution in the textbooks was the hot topic that consumed nearly two hours of the Feb. 1 school board meeting. The end result was a 3 to 2 vote in favor of adopting the textbooks but there was a public comment slugfest leading up to it.<\/p>\n

I invite you to watch the board meeting here<\/a>. Below I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll summarize some of the main points and provide you time stamps. Keep in mind that unless I have something in quotes that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just my paraphrasing and summarizing. If you believe I got something wrong, please let me know.<\/p>\n

Florida Citizens for Science board member David Campbell reserved a special presentation time in advance in order to address some of the misconceptions and errors that were evident at the previous school board meeting when evolution came up. (See our post\u00c2\u00a0Meanwhile in Clay County: the teaching of evolution is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153intellectually deceptive\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a> about that meeting.) His comments start at 00:45:21. He did a good, if rushed, job of explaining what a scientific theory is and what the Florida state science standards say about evolution. Despite speaking with confidence and authority from more than two decades of teaching it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that his mini-lecture didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have much impact as evidenced by the comments to come. But he did get a round of applause when he finished.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>But the topic of science textbooks didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come up until 1:45:34 when Superintendent Addison Davis started the discussion with a short presentation. He thanked the public for their input. And he felt it necessary to make this statement:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153And I want you to know that in the content that was submitted to me as superintendent — and I’m not trying to be unprofessional — but from a personal standpoint I agree with a majority of the content that was sent to me. (I may not have transcribed that correctly as he spoke fast and not too clearly. I believe what he was saying was that he agreed with a lot of the comments citizens had given him.) But as superintendent it is not my job to infuse my personal beliefs. As superintendent when I took oath it is my job to make sure I follow state statute and law. It is my job to make certain that I adopt curricula that is aligned to state standards and concepts that is provided and given to me from the department of education. And please know that my decisions do not reflect my personal beliefs but they have to reflect the guidelines extended to me by the department of education.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He then showed some slides that define what a scientific theory is. However, he read very fast and really butchered what he was reading. And he made sure to emphasize parts of the slide that say that sometimes science concepts can be refuted and revised. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when it dawned on me why some people just can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to grasp the concept that a scientific theory is not a guess. They see that science can change when new evidence is found and that immediately reinforces their preconception that theories are wishy-washy.<\/p>\n

He then explained that back in 2008 the Clay County school board had adopted a resolution and sent it to the Florida Board of Education asking that evolution be presented as just a theory and not be presented as fact in the new state science standards that were being considered for adoption back then. Davis then said that afterward, the Department of Education did adjust the standards, adding \u00e2\u20ac\u0153scientific theory of\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to all mentions of evolution. (See my posts from way back in 2008 here<\/a> and here<\/a> about the resolution. And may I suggest that you read all about the 2008 protests against the teaching evolution in my book Going Ape: Florida’s Battles over Evolution in the Classroom<\/a>?)<\/p>\n

He then showed a slide about the 7th grade science standards.<\/p>\n

SC.7.L.15.2: Explore the scientific theory of evolution by recognizing and explaining ways in which genetic variation and environmental factors contribute to evolution by natural selection and diversity of organisms.<\/p>\n

SC.7.N.3.1 Recognize and explain the difference between theories and laws<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He used that slide as evidence for his next statement:<\/p>\n

“In no way, shape or form do our textbooks or will our textbooks ever reflect evolution as a fact because the fact that our state standards does not allow us to do so.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He showed another slide, this time from the high school biology standards.<\/p>\n

SC.912.L.15.1 Explain how the scientific theory of evolution is supported by the fossil record, comparative anatomy, comparative embryology, biogeography, molecular biology, and observed evolutionary change.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And he said:<\/p>\n

“… this is where the angst came in 2008 because the biology standards really again pushed to say that evolution was then law and then potentially a fact.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He went on to say that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153scientific theory of\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was inserted, making the standards much better, thus clarifying that evolution is not fact. He wrapped up his presentation by saying that the textbooks under consideration were vetted and that 100 percent of the district\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s biology teachers chose the textbook the school board was now considering.<\/p>\n

In other words, Davis was trying the reassure the board members and the public that they shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fear evolution being taught because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not being taught as a fact but rather as a theory.<\/p>\n

Sorry, David Campbell, but your mini-lecture went right over the superintendent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head.<\/p>\n

Next was the public comment period. It starts at 3:01:37 and features 21 people, 16 of whom were against evolution and five who were for evolution. But note that not all of the ones who spoke in favor of evolution were truly speaking for evolution. My summaries below are very brief. I just want to give a quick sample of what was said. I invite you to watch for yourself and provide me any corrections or clarifications you may have.<\/p>\n

But before you dive in, I need to make some very important points. <\/strong><\/p>\n