{"id":3338,"date":"2018-07-18T15:20:09","date_gmt":"2018-07-18T19:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3338"},"modified":"2018-07-18T15:20:09","modified_gmt":"2018-07-18T19:20:09","slug":"its-time-to-get-engaged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3338","title":{"rendered":"It’s time to get engaged!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Local Elections Matter<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Collier County school board narrowly approved new science textbooks for their schools 3-2 over protests from citizens about evolution and climate change. The Martin County school board approved science textbook adoptions by the same one-vote margin when citizens there also complained about evolution and climate change.<\/p>\n

Either vote could have swung the other way if only one school board member was swayed by the citizens\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 complaints.<\/p>\n

This is why elections matter. School board candidates are on ballots across the state. For example, in the aforementioned Collier County, three people are running for the District 5 School Board seat. One candidate, Mary Ellen Cash, is on the record with her views on science instructional materials<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In a February 2017 affidavit posted on the Florida Citizens Alliance website, Cash expressed several concerns about CCPS [Collier County Public Schools] operations. Regarding the instructional materials used in the District, she wrote, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have witnessed students being taught evolution as a fact of creation rather than a theory \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. I have witnessed children being taught that Global Warming is a reality\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. There is a liberal agenda being taught in our schools\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6..\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The website Sparker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Soapbox<\/a> is keeping track of those Collier County elections. The author there notes:<\/p>\n

Four years ago, just 18 percent of eligible voters voted in the August School Board elections. Two Board members were elected with the votes of half of them. One beat her nearest opponent in a three-way race by just over 5100 votes; the other beat his only opponent by just over 4100 votes. In all elections, but especially our School Board primaries, voter turnout determines the outcome.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I mentioned in my previous post<\/a>, we need to keep track of candidates\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 views not just in Collier County, but across the entire state. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a matter of time until engaged organizations, local and statewide, start issuing voting guides based on candidate surveys. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m surprised I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen many yet. But they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re coming. Once you find one, please let us know.<\/p>\n

Candidates for Governor and U.S. Congress<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Local elected positions are important but so are the elections that send folks to the Governor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s office and the U.S. Congress. With that in mind, Science Debate<\/a> developed ten questions on science and technology topics and is actively seeking candidates\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 responses. They were successful in getting every major presidential candidate since 2008 to participate. Now they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve expanded their scope to gubernatorial, U.S. House, and U.S. Senate candidates.<\/p>\n

Science Debate needs our help. So far, only one Florida candidate has responded<\/a>: James F. Henry, Democrat, U.S. House District 11. We need a lot more Sunshine State participants and that will only happen if you join the effort to put the questionnaire in front of candidates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Contact your candidates and encourage them to respond to the 2018 Q&A! We drum up as much interest and support as we can, but what matters most to candidates is what their potential constituents request. You can find your candidates at Ballotopedia<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You assistance is vital to Science Debate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mission of informing voters candidate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s views on science and technology topics. Will you help?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Local Elections Matter The Collier County school board narrowly approved new science textbooks for their schools 3-2 over protests from citizens about evolution and climate change. The Martin County school board approved science textbook adoptions by the same one-vote margin … 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":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-RQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3322,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3322","url_meta":{"origin":3338,"position":0},"title":"News Roundup","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"June 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a quick roundup of recent news articles associated with current events Florida Citizens for Science has been involved in. Orlando Sentinel: Director stands up for his Christian voucher schools The director of three private Christian schools that accept state scholarships takes issue with Sentinel columnist Lauren Ritchie who\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3322#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3274,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3274","url_meta":{"origin":3338,"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":3359,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3359","url_meta":{"origin":3338,"position":2},"title":"School Boards Election Fallout","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"September 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"We've had some interesting times this year putting out fires concerning evolution and climate change in new science textbooks up for adoption in a few Florida school districts. Did those experiences impact school board elections in those counties? Of course, there were many other issues voters had on their minds,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3312,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3312","url_meta":{"origin":3338,"position":3},"title":"Road trip to Collier County: Speaking up for science education","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"June 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I'll be on the road tomorrow morning (Monday) headed to Naples on a mission to help speak up for science education. I hope to see some of you folks there so we can finally meet in person. Why do science defenders need to converge on Collier County? Because a coordinated\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3312#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3270,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3270","url_meta":{"origin":3338,"position":4},"title":"Collier County science textbook objections: “You profess to be a Christian”","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"May 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Science textbooks are still an issue here in Florida. Many school districts are working their way through the lengthy process of reviewing and adopting new science books for their classrooms. And there are still a few hot spots of controversy that we need to keep an eye on. For instance:\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":3306,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3306","url_meta":{"origin":3338,"position":5},"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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3338"}],"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=3338"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3342,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3338\/revisions\/3342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}