NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2013/12/06
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2013-12-06 17:00.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, News about NCSE's next webinar for activists. A development in the lawsuit over Kansas's adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards. A Church & State interview with NCSE's Eugenie C. Scott. And a slew of new videos at NCSE's YouTube channel.
NCSE'S NEXT WEBINAR FOR ACTIVISTS NCSE is pleased to announce the second of a new series of on-line workshops aimed at broadening and deepening the networks that make our work possible. The workshop focuses on lobbying policymakers -- legislators, members of state boards of education, members of local school boards, and the like -- and features NCSE's Josh Rosenau, the ACLU's Dena Sher, and Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education's Vic Hutchison. Bills attacking evolution education and climate change education were filed in almost a dozen state legislatures last year, and a new legislative season starting in January will bring many more. Lawmakers need to hear from their own constituents -- the voters who put them in office, the neighbors and colleagues whose good opinion they value -- to stop bad bills and to improve science education. The workshop will provide advice and resources to help citizens like you become active and effective lobbyists on behalf of science education. The workshop begins at 1:00 p.m. Pacific time (4:00 p.m. Eastern time) on December 18, 2013, and spaces are still available, so register now! (The session will be recorded, so don't worry if you're unable to register or participate.) A recording of the first webinar in the series, which surveyed the skills and resources that concerned citizens need in responding to attacks on science education, is now available on-line, along with the slides used in the presentation. For information about the upcoming NCSE webinar, visit: http://ncse.com/taking-action/lobbying-policymakers-to-defend-improve-science-education For information about the past NCSE webinar, visit: http://ncse.com/taking-action/how-to-respond-to-attacks-science-education And for information on the series of webinars, visit: http://ncse.com/taking-action/online-trainings-science-education-advocates-activists KANSAS ANSWERS COPE Will a federal court dismiss a lawsuit seeking to prevent Kansas from adopting the Next Generation Science Standards? In documents filed on December 5, 2013, the defendants in COPE et al. v. Kansas State Board of Education et al. asked the United States District Court for the District of Kansas to dismiss the suit, saying that the court lacks jurisdiction over all claims asserted in the complaint and that the complaint fails to state a claim against the defendants. As NCSE previously reported, the complaint contends that the NGSS and the Framework for K-12 Science Education (on which the NGSS are based) "will have the effect of causing Kansas public schools to establish and endorse a non-theistic religious worldview ... in violation of the Establishment, Free Exercise, and Speech Clauses of the First Amendment, and the Equal Protection Clauses of the 14th Amendment" (pp. 1-2). The lead plaintiff, COPE, Citizens for Objective Public Education, is a relatively new creationist organization, founded in 2012, but its leaders and attorneys include people familiar from previous attacks on evolution education across the country, such as John H. Calvert of the Intelligent Design Network. The Kansas board of education voted to adopt the NGSS in June 2013, as NCSE previously reported, and COPE's lawsuit is evidently attempting to undo the decision. In a memorandum supporting the motion to dismiss the suit, the defendants argued that the state board of education and the state department of education are entitled to sovereign immunity to the suit, that the plaintiffs lack standing to challenge the board's decision, that the plaintiffs failed to state any Establishment Clause claim, and that the plaintiffs failed to state a Free Exercise, Free Speech, or Equal Protection claim either. Previously, when the lawsuit was originally filed, Steven Case, director of the University of Kansas's Center for Science Education, told the Associated Press (September 26, 2013), "This is about as frivolous as lawsuits get." NCSE's Joshua Rosenau concurred, saying that the argument was familiar but silly. Rosenau later examined the complaint in light of Calvert's previous writings on the topic, contending that they "explain where the reasoning of his current suit fails." For the defendants' motion and memorandum (both PDF), visit: http://ncse.com/files/2013-12-05_Ds_Motion_to_Dismiss.pdf http://ncse.com/files/2013-12-05_Ds_Memo_in_Support_of_Dismissal.pdf For the original complaint (PDF), visit: http://ncse.com/files/2013-09-26_Complaint.pdf For Rosenau's examination of the complaint, visit: http://ncse.com/blog/2013/10/kansas-will-cope-with-cope-0015134 And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Kansas, visit: http://ncse.com/news/kansas NCSE'S SCOTT IN CHURCH & STATE NCSE's outgoing executive director Eugenie C. Scott was interviewed for the December 2013 issue of Americans United for Separation of Church and State's magazineChurch & State. Scott discussed a variety of issues with Americans United's Rob Boston, including what works and what needs to improve in science education, how creationist strategies have changed over the years, why it is important to understand evolution ("a basic component of the knowledge of educated people"), where American antievolutionism originated and what sustains it in existence, and what the most important thing the average person can do to defend good science education in public schools. The interview concluded with Scott's answering a question about what's next on her agenda: "I'm going to spend about six months considering various suggestions but trying not to commit myself to anything right off. Still, I have speaking engagements through October 2014, so the creationists (and climate change deniers) will still have me to kick around for a while yet!" Scott will retire (and become chair of NCSE's Advisory Council) at the end of 2013; Ann Reid will become the new executive director at the beginning of 2014. For the interview in Church & State, visit: https://www.au.org/church-state/december-2013-church-state/featured/evolution-expounder VIDEOS, VIDEOS, VIDEOS NCSE is pleased to announce the addition of a further batch of videos to NCSE's YouTube channel. Especially noteworthy are Eugenie C. Scott speaking on "Legends, Hoaxes, Frauds, and Frauds of Science" at the SkeptiCal conference in 2013, Joshua Rosenau speaking on "Science Denial, Science Education, and Social Justice" at Santa Clara University in 2013, and exclusive footage of testimony on science textbooks before the Texas state board of education in September 2013 and in November 2013. Also featured are Scott discussing her impending retirement on The Infidel, a video produced to commemorate Scott's induction into the Independent Investigation Group's Houdini Hall of Honor, and a panel discussion on K-12 science education, including Scott, held as part of the Arthur M. Sackler colloquium The NAS at 150: Celebrating Service to the Nation, all from 2013. Tune in and enjoy! For NCSE's YouTube channel, visit: http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd WHAT'S NEW FROM THE SCIENCE LEAGUE OF AMERICA Have you been visiting NCSE's blog, The Science League of America, recently? If not, then you've missed: * Mark McCaffrey discussing the roster of major carbon emitters: http://ncse.com/blog/2013/11/winner-is-0015206 * Eugenie C. Scott considering the problem of creationist teachers: http://ncse.com/blog/2013/12/proudly-creationist-0015213 * Glenn Branch commemorating the 45th anniversary of Epperson v. Arkansas: http://ncse.com/blog/2013/11/forty-five-years-after-epperson-part-1-0015172 http://ncse.com/blog/2013/11/forty-five-years-after-epperson-part-2-0015180 http://ncse.com/blog/2013/11/forty-five-years-after-epperson-part-3-0015188 http://ncse.com/blog/2013/12/forty-five-years-after-epperson-part-4-0015190 And much more besides! For The Science League of America, visit: http://ncse.com/blog Thanks for reading. And don't forget to visit NCSE's website -- http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on evolution and climate education and threats to them. -- Sincerely, Glenn Branch Deputy Director National Center for Science Education, Inc. 420 40th Street, Suite 2 Oakland, CA 94609-2509 510-601-7203 x305 fax: 510-601-7204 800-290-6006 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Check out NCSE's new blog, Science League of America: http://ncse.com/blog Read Reports of the NCSE on-line: http://reports.ncse.com Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: http://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd http://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! http://ncse.com/join
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