The Guise Of Critical Thinking: How Anti-Evolution Bills Mar Science Education
Perhaps an hour after I posted last week’s 13.7 blog praising Florida for its newly adopted Science Standards, I was dealt a low blow: an e-newsletter from the valiant National Center for Science Education (NCSE) appeared in my Inbox reporting that the evolutionary essence of these standards was being challenged by something called Florida Senate Bill 1854.
According to the NCSE, eight such “antievolution bills” have been introduced in eight state legislatures in 2011. The consensus is that all will “die in committee” for lack of support. But such deaths are the outcome of considerable vigilance and effort by the likes of NCSE, parents, citizen science advocates, and newspaper editorial writers. It’s a hassle. And even when the bills die, the collateral damage is considerable, particularly to the beleaguered science teachers caught in the crossfire.