NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2015/02/13
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2015-02-13 15:03.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, The effort to unblock the Next Generation Science Standard in Wyoming continues. Antiscience bills in Montana and South Dakota are dead, but are Utah's new science standards in trouble? Plus Darwin Day resolutions are introduced in the Arizona House of Representatives and the United States Senate. And -- speaking of which -- a reminder about Darwin Day.
BILL TO UNBLOCK NGSS PASSES WYOMING SENATE Wyoming's House Bill 23 was passed by the Senate on a 27-3 vote on February 12, 2015. The bill would allow the state to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards by repealing a footnote in the state budget for 2014-2016 that precluded the use of state funds for "any review or adoption" of the NGSS. The treatment of climate change was cited as the reason for the footnote in the budget, as NCSE previously reported. The Wyoming state board of education subsequently declined to develop a new set of science standards independent of the NGSS. Despite the legislature's decision, local school districts are free to adopt the NGSS, and about fifteen (of forty-eight) have reportedly done so. Before passing HB 23, the Senate amended it by adding, "The state board of education may consider, discuss or modify the next generation science standards, in addition to any other standards, content or benchmarks as it may determine necessary, to develop quality science standards that are unique to Wyoming." The House previously considered and rejected such a provision, so the bill will proceed to conference committee. "It's clear," commented NCSE's Mark McCaffrey, "that Wyoming educators want to be able to make use of the NGSS. It would be a shame if the Senate's amendment to the bill survived, enabling the opponents of sound science education to lobby against the use of the standards as somehow not sufficiently unique to the state." For Wyoming's House Bill 23 as introduced (PDF), visit: http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2015/Introduced/HB0023.pdf And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Wyoming, visit: http://ncse.com/news/wyoming ANTISCIENCE BILL IN MONTANA DIES Montana's House Bill 321, which purports to "encourage critical thinking regarding controversial scientific theories" such as "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, random mutation, natural selection, DNA, and fossil discoveries," was tabled in the House Education Committee on February 9, 2015. According to the Billings Gazette (January 29, 2015), the bill "would encourage high school teachers to present evolutionary biology as disputed theory rather than sound science and protect those who teach viewpoints like creationism in the classroom." The House Education Committee discussed HB 321 in its February 6, 2015, meeting. Only two testifiers, including the bill's sponsor, Clayton Fiscus (R-District 46), spoke in favor of the bill, while over a dozen testifiers, including scientists, teachers, theologians, school board members, and concerned parents, testified against it. For information about Montana's House Bill 321, visit: http://www.leg.mt.gov/bills/2015/billhtml/HB0321.htm For the story in the Billings Gazette, visit: http://billingsgazette.com/news/government-and-politics/anti-evolution-bill-would-protect-hs-teachers-who-teach-creationism/article_6c80d5dc-13d4-5e28-a195-61e83e9d8d78.html And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Montana, visit: http://ncse.com/news/montana ANTISCIENCE BILL IN SOUTH DAKOTA DIES South Dakota's Senate Bill 114 is out of commission, following a February 10, 2015, hearing in the Senate Education Committee. The committee voted to defer further consideration of the bill to the forty-first legislative day, and since the legislative session in South Dakota is forty days long in odd-numbered years, the bill is effectively dead. Identifying "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, [and] human cloning" as scientifically controversial, SB 114 would, in effect, have allowed public school teachers to miseducate their students about science -- and would have prevented state and local educational authorities from intervening. Testifying in support of the bill at the committee hearing were representatives of Concerned Women for America, the South Dakota Family Policy Council, and the Discovery Institute; testifying in opposition were representatives of the state department of education, the South Dakota Education Association, and the Associated School Boards of South Dakota. For information about South Dakota's Senate Bill 114, visit: http://legis.sd.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?File=SB114P.htm&Session=2015 And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in South Dakota, visit: http://ncse.com/news/south-dakota STORMS OVER NEW UTAH SCIENCE STANDARDS? Utah's new state standards for middle school science education are on hold, reports the Salt Lake Tribune (February 9, 2015) -- and evolution and climate change may be the reason. Although the draft standards were to be released for public review and comment in February 2015, the state board of education's standards and assessment committee decided to postpone their release pending further revisions. Laura Belnap, a member of the board, told the newspaper that the reason for the committee's decision was the incorporation of computer science in the standards. In a subsequent editorial, however, the Tribune (February 9, 2015) complainedthat "the state board is in a holding pattern because of a few objections that the proposed standards are too accepting of such 'controversial' scientific principles as evolution and climate change," adding, "in science class they teach science. Evolution and climate change included, or it cannot be called science class." The editorial may have been prompted by a comment from Vincent Newmeyer, a parent who served on a state committee that reviewed the standards, who felt that the draft standards took a position on controversial subjects. "That is true with global warming, that is true with Darwinian evolution and a number of other things," Newmeyer told the newspaper. "It's not a science class in these areas. It's an indoctrination class." "With the public review now on hold," the Tribune commented, "it is not clear what the next steps for the science standards will be." For the Salt Lake Tribune's story and editorial, visit: http://www.sltrib.com/home/2150311-155/new-school-science-standards-for-utah http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/2159511-155/editorial-utah-is-not-exempt-from And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Utah, visit: http://ncse.com/news/utah DARWIN DAY RESOLUTION IN ARIZONA House Resolution 2002, introduced in the Arizona House of Representatives on February 9, 2015, would, if enacted, express the House's recognition of February 12, 2015, as International Darwin Day. The resolution acknowledges the 206th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, honors his discovery of natural selection, and the theory's role as "the foundation for ongoing advances in science, health, philosophy, art, education, and many other areas of modern life." It also celebrates Darwin's "strength of character" and the "great courage, wisdom and honesty required to explore and publish" his work on evolution, and deems his birthday "an appropriate day on which to celebrate and to reflect and act on the principles of intellectual bravery, perpetual curiosity, and the hunger for truth, which contribute to the well-being of all people." Like HR 67 and SR 66, Darwin Day resolutions introduced in the US House and US Senate, the resolution in Arizona covers only 2015. The resolution was introduced by Andrew Sherwood (D-District 26) and Rebecca Rios (D-District 27), whose districts include Arizona State University. For the text of Arizona's House Resolution 2002 (PDF), visit: www.azleg.gov/legtext/52leg/1r/bills/hr2002p.pdf DARWIN DAY RESOLUTION IN THE SENATE Senate Resolution 66, introduced in the United States Senate on February 4, 2015, would, if passed, express the Senate's support of designating February 12, 2015, as Darwin Day, and its recognition of "Charles Darwin as a worthy symbol on which to celebrate the achievements of reason, science, and the advancement of human knowledge." Introduced by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), S. Res. 66 is the first Darwin Day resolution ever to appear in the Senate. A string of similar bills have been introduced in the House of Representatives, the most recent of which -- H. Res. 67 -- was introduced by Representative Jim Himes on February 2, 2015. In a February 5, 2015, press release from the Secular Coalition of America, which worked with Blumenthal on the resolution, Kelly Damerow expressed her "hope that all members of Congress will see these resolutions as a reminder of the historical impact of science on humanity and its continued importance in our everyday lives." For the text of Senate Resolution 66 (PDF), visit: https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/sres66/BILLS-114sres66is.pdf And for the Secular Coalition of America's press release, visit: https://www.secular.org/news/darwin-day-resolution-introduced-senate DARWIN DAY APPROACHES It's time to dust off your Darwin costume again: Darwin's birthday was February 12, but the celebrations continue! Colleges and universities, schools, libraries, museums, churches, civic groups, and just plain folks across the country -- and the world -- are preparing to celebrate Darwin Day, on or around February 12, in honor of the life and work of Charles Darwin. These events provide a marvelous opportunity not only to celebrate Darwin's birthday but also to engage in public outreach about science, evolution, and the importance of evolution education -- which is especially needed with assaults on evolution education already under way in state legislatures. NCSE encourages its members and friends to attend, participate in, and even organize Darwin Day events in their own communities. To find a local event, check the websites of local universities and museums and the registry of Darwin Day events maintained by the Darwin Day Celebration website. (And don't forget to register your own event with the Darwin Day Celebration website!) And with Darwin Day comes the return of Evolution Weekend! Hundreds of congregations all over the country and around the world are taking part in Evolution Weekend, February 13-15, 2015, by presenting sermons and discussion groups on the compatibility of faith and science. Michael Zimmerman, the initiator of the project, writes, "Evolution Weekend is an opportunity for serious discussion and reflection on the relationship between religion and science. One important goal is to elevate the quality of the discussion on this critical topic -- to move beyond sound bites. A second critical goal is to demonstrate that religious people from many faiths and locations understand that evolution is sound science and poses no problems for their faith. Finally, as with The Clergy Letter itself, Evolution Weekend makes it clear that those claiming that people must choose between religion and science are creating a false dichotomy." At last count, 459 congregations in forty-five states (and thirteen foreign countries) were scheduled to hold Evolution Weekend events. For the Darwin Day registry, visit: http://darwinday.org/events/ http://darwinday.org/events/community/add For information about Evolution Weekend, visit: http://www.evolutionweekend.org/ 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: * Josh Rosenau noting a telling irony in a creationist organization's complaint about totalitarianism: http://ncse.com/blog/2015/02/discovery-institute-exposes-discovery-institute-s-0016185 * Mark McCaffrey recounting his recent visit to the Energy and Climate Change conference: http://ncse.com/blog/2015/02/turning-corner-0016178 * Glenn Branch investigating the provenance of the adage "Everything is the way it is because it got that way": http://ncse.com/blog/2015/02/everything-is-way-it-is-0016189 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 x303 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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