{"id":3423,"date":"2019-02-02T13:46:02","date_gmt":"2019-02-02T18:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3423"},"modified":"2019-02-02T13:48:07","modified_gmt":"2019-02-02T18:48:07","slug":"news-roundup-2-2-19-controversial-theories-in-science-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3423","title":{"rendered":"News Roundup 2\/2\/19: Controversial Theories in Science bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

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. The focus of all of the news was the provision in the bills that would require those districts that adopt their own standards to make sure “controversial theories” in science are “taught in a factual, objective, and balanced manner.” As we’re about to see, the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Dennis Baxley, sees evolution and climate change as those “controversial theories.” For more background on the bill, see our issues page:\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Controversial Theories\/Rigorous Standards\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bills 2019<\/a>. The bill is SB 330<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The story that set off the news avalanche was in the Tampa Bay Times<\/em>:\u00c2\u00a0Florida bill would have students learn alternatives to climate change, evolution<\/a>. Before this story was published, Baxley had not said publicly what was meant by “controversial theories.” But this story confirmed what we knew.<\/p>\n

The bill\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sponsor, Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, said that schools need to teach \u00e2\u20ac\u0153different worldviews\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on issues like evolution and climate change. He asserts that textbooks now skew toward \u00e2\u20ac\u0153uniformity\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of thought.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nothing is ever settled if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s science, because people are always questioning science,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Baxley said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you look at the history of human learning, for a long time the official worldview was that the world was flat. Anything you now accept as fact comes from a perspective and you learn from examining different schools of thought.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And we get further confirmation in this story about where the bill came from.<\/p>\n

The language of the bill sounds fairly unremarkable, requiring only that schools \u00e2\u20ac\u0153shall\u00e2\u20ac\u009d teach these \u00e2\u20ac\u0153theories\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153factual, objective, and balanced manner.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But the group that wrote the bill, the Florida Citizens Alliance, says the bill is needed because curriculum currently taught in Florida schools equates to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153political and religious indoctrination,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d according to their managing director, Keith Flaugh.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Florida Watchdog has this story:\u00c2\u00a0Bill wants climate change, evolution \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcalternate theories\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 taught in public schools<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Baxley said SB 330 is not an attack on science but an attempt to provide school districts with more academic freedom in how they teach science to K-12 students.<\/p>\n

“The purpose of this bill is to allow people to question and challenge certain ideas rather than saying ‘This is the way it is,'” Baxley said. “We pursue all kinds of diversity but then we are like, ‘Don’t dare question anything that is set science,’ and the whole pursuit of science, for example, is pursue everything. There was a time in science that the world was flat.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I noticed that in several news stories Baxley stated that science once thought that the world was flat. If you have a chance to rebut Baxley in a letter to the editor, op-ed or other venue, please point out that he’s not only hopelessly ignorant about evolution, but he’s just as ignorant about flat earth. This Wikipedia page is a good place to start:\u00c2\u00a0Myth of the flat Earth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to Stephen Jay Gould, “there never was a period of ‘flat Earth darkness’ among scholars (regardless of how the public at large may have conceptualized our planet both then and now). Greek knowledge of sphericity never faded, and all major medieval scholars accepted the Earth’s roundness as an established fact of cosmology.” Historians of science David Lindberg and Ronald Numbers point out that “there was scarcely a Christian scholar of the Middle Ages who did not acknowledge [Earth’s] sphericity and even know its approximate circumference”.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Miami New Times<\/em> hammers the point in their story that the source of the bill, the Florida Citizens’ Alliance, isn’t really an authority on science education and yet they are having an out-sized influence in our state when it comes to education matters lately.\u00c2\u00a0Florida Lawmaker Sourced Anti-Climate Change, Anti-Evolution Bill From Islamophobic Fringe Group<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s 2019 and Florida lawmakers still want to debate the existence of evolution and human-caused climate change. For that, you can thank longtime state senator and proud son of the Confederacy, Ocala’s Dennis Baxley, who recently teamed up with a fringe-right, virulently Islamophobic group to push yet another anti-science bill.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

The group last made news after then-Governor-Elect Ron DeSantis tapped two of its members to serve on his education advisory team. As New Times has previously reported, the Alliance is virulently Islamophobic, has said LGBTQ people are guilty of “deviant behavior,” and claims schools must teach Judeo-Christian values.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

But as New Times has previously reported, the Florida Citizens’ Alliance is on the fringe, even in the Sunshine State. The group routinely rails against the creeping influence of what it calls “cultural Marxism,” “LGBTQ values,” and “Islam” in public schools. It publishes an annual list of books it wants the public school system to ban \u00e2\u20ac\u201d it has protested books that include “stories depicting \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcvictims\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 of capitalism, and the bigoted, sexist, racist ‘American Culture’ where whites victimize Indians, Mexican immigrants, women, Japanese, Chinese, African-American, and animals.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>I do have some good news to report, though! I’ve been active in the Florida evolution wars for several years and I rarely see state lawmakers go on the record as pro-evolution\/climate change. The last time I can recall it happening was 2008, more than a decade ago. But before this year’s legislative session even kicks off, there are signs that we finally have someone on our side. WMNF reports:\u00c2\u00a0Florida bill could let nonscientific theories be taught in science classes<\/a><\/p>\n

One critic of the bill, Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando), is a newly-elected state representative in House District 47.<\/p>\n

You oppose this bill. Why do you oppose it?<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I do. I believe firmly that we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need alternative facts in our schools and we need science. And science is not controversial. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually necessary and it helps to explain how the world operates.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re setting a foundation for our young people to be successful as they grow into different career paths. Having a foundation of science is essential to their success.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Please take time to show Eskamani some love<\/a> with words of appreciation directly or via social media.<\/p>\n

Over the years we’ve had the support of many newspaper columnists who love to make fun of anti-evolution politicians. Frank Cerabino is the first out of the gate at the Palm Beach Post<\/em>:\u00c2\u00a0Science teaching would evolve in Florida schools under proposed bill<\/a><\/p>\n

After all, every child should have the right to be as proudly misinformed as the most uneducated parent in his or her school district.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

So, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time that children be taught that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perfectly within their individual rights, not to mention the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s founding principles and our family values, to believe in a more tolerant science, one that holds that our planet might be just thousands of years old, and that global warming must be a hoax because, well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been really cold this week.<\/p>\n

Did dinosaurs and man live on earth during the same time? If you believe they did, they did!<\/p>\n

See how easy it is?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And\u00c2\u00a0Fred Grimm at the South Florida Sun Sentinel<\/em> pokes some fun while at the same time reminding us that some horrible ideas do become law. Love to mock those crazy bills filed in Tallahassee \u00e2\u20ac\u201d unless they pass<\/a><\/p>\n

Just last week, Dennis Baxley, a longtime provider of fish in the proverbial barrel, once again rescued columnists from our winter slumber. The senator from Ocala, where folks don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t appreciate pointy-headed scientists messing with their worldview, introduced a bill that would allow school districts to teach \u00e2\u20ac\u0153different worldviews\u00e2\u20ac\u009d about such lefty myths as evolution and climate change.<\/p>\n

Hear that distant sound? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s us opinion slingers, howling like indignant banshees, invoking the Scopes monkey trial. Much like we did back when Sen. Stephen Wise of Jacksonville introduced his own anti-evolution measure, asking the question that left biologist cringing: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why do we still have apes if we came from them?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

But much of our shock and fury are feigned. We know, in our disingenuous hearts, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mostly fluff. Because wiser heads in key Senate or House committees will quietly table off-the-wall legislation. We know, secretly, that the wild stuff will just disappear.<\/p>\n

Except, sometimes it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. Baxley and his buddies managed to pass the notorious 2005 Stand Your Ground Act. In 2017, the flat-earthers enacted a law allowing any Florida resident to challenge textbooks or other teaching materials that offend their sensibilities. Which translates into a war on evolution and global warming.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

All those laws started out as absurdities, good for a laugh before the session began. Yet, they passed. It could be a bad year for evolution and sex dolls.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, those are the news highlights. There were many, many more articles published but the majority of them just rehashed what earlier stories reported. But if you come across a unique one that points out something new, please let us know!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","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-Td","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3409,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3409","url_meta":{"origin":3423,"position":0},"title":"Update 1: “Controversial Theories” bill targeting evolution\/climate change referred to committees","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A bill filed in the Florida senate that could significantly impact science education if it becomes law is now referred to four committees. The bill would allow school districts to forgo the state academic standards if they want to adopt their own set of standards as long as they are\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2985,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2985","url_meta":{"origin":3423,"position":1},"title":"Another “controversial theories” bill filed and other bad news","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"November 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"My sincere apologies, folks. I have a laundry list of bad news to tell you about. Let's get right to it. \"Controversial Theories\" bill I've already told you about Senate Bill 966, introduced by Sen. Dennis Baxley, that proposes allowing school districts to adopt their own sets of educational standards\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Religious Liberties Act 2017"","block_context":{"text":"Religious Liberties Act 2017","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=33"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3417,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3417","url_meta":{"origin":3423,"position":2},"title":"Florida Senator: schools need to teach ‘different worldviews’ 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 "Controversial Theories bill 2019"","block_context":{"text":"Controversial Theories bill 2019","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=36"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3395,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3395","url_meta":{"origin":3423,"position":3},"title":"“Controversial Theories” 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 "Controversial Theories bill 2019"","block_context":{"text":"Controversial Theories bill 2019","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=36"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3403,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3403","url_meta":{"origin":3423,"position":4},"title":"News Roundup 1\/20\/19","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"There are several items in the news of interest to us here at Florida Citizens for Science. We'll start with the budding coverage of a bill filed in our state legislature that could directly impact science education here in the Sunshine State. (See 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":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2993,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2993","url_meta":{"origin":3423,"position":5},"title":"Antiscience Bills Update 12\/8\/17","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"December 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a quick update on the bills we're watching in the Florida legislature. The legislative session doesn't actually kick off until Jan. 8 but bills can be pre-filed in preparation for the session and those bills can be assigned to committees and possibly even heard and voted on during committee\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3423"}],"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=3423"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3427,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3423\/revisions\/3427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}