NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2016/03/04
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2016-03-04 18:37.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, A new issue of Reports of the NCSE in its new format is now available on-line. Idaho's Bible-as-science-reference bill may become not as problematic. West Virginia's science standards are under attack by the legislature, in part owing to their treatment of climate change. And two -- or is it three? -- antiscience bills are dead in Oklahoma.
RNCSE 36:1 NOW ON-LINE NCSE is pleased to announce that the latest issue ofReports of the National Center for Science Education is now available on-line. The issue -- volume 36, number 1 -- is the first issue in the newsletter's new, streamlined, and full-color format. Featured are "Willing to Fight," Peter Buckland's interview with climate scientist Mike Mann; Minda Berbeco's reports on NCSE's new teacher network and NCSE's internship program and Emily Schoerning's report on the Science Booster Club project; and a review of Wallace Arthur's Evolving Animals by Luke Holbrook. The entire issue is freely available in PDF form from http://reports.ncse.com. Members of NCSE will have already received the issue in the mail, and will be receiving the next issue of Reports in April 2016. (Not a member? Join today!) For RNCSE 36:1, visit: http://reports.ncse.com/index.php/rncse/issue/current/showToc For information about joining NCSE, visit: http://ncse.com/join BIBLE-AS-SCIENCE REFERENCE BILL DEFUSED? Idaho's Senate Bill 1321 -- which originally would have permitted the use of the Bible in Idaho's public schools "for reference purposes to further the study of" a variety of topics, including "astronomy, biology, [and] geology" -- is reportedly going to be amended to omit the references to the sciences. According to Idaho Education News (February 26, 2016), when the Senate State Affairs Committee considered the bill, "Sen. Todd Lakey, R-Nampa [District 12], suggested striking the sciences from this list [of topics] -- as a safeguard against using the Bible to teach creationism. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against teaching creationism in public schools." The senator who proposed the bill, Sheryl Nuxoll (R-District 7), indicated that she was amenable to the revision, and the committee voted to send the bill -- now as Senate Bill 1342 -- to the Senate floor for amendments. "But," Idaho Education News noted, "there are no guarantees. When a bill is opened up for amendment, any lawmaker can propose any change." For the text of Idaho's Senate Bill 1321 and Senate Bill 1342 as introduced (PDF), visit: http://legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2016/S1321.pdf http://legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2016/S1342.pdf For the story in Idaho Education News, visit: http://www.idahoednews.org/news/bible-in-schools-bill-will-get-a-rewrite/ And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Idaho, visit: http://ncse.com/news/idaho ATTACK ON SCIENCE STANDARDS IN WEST VIRGINIA West Virginia's House Bill 4014, which passed the House of Representatives on February 26, 2016, would, if enacted, prevent the state board of education from implementing the state science standards adopted in 2015 -- and there are indications that the treatment of climate science in the standards is part of the motivation. The bill was originally aimed at repealing West Virginia's standards for mathematics and English language arts, which resemble the Common Core standards. When the bill was in the House Education Committee, however, a proposed committee substitute, which would have added a repeal of the science standards, was under discussion. According to the Charleston Gazette-Mail (February 11, 2016), Jim Butler (R-District 14), the lead sponsor of HB 4014, "said the science standards dealing with climate change -- only a few lines of West Virginia's full 70-page science standards document -- also are a concern. He has said he doesn't believe humans' greenhouse gas emissions are a major driver of climate change." The committee subsequently "passed a bipartisan version Saturday morning that wouldn't repeal the state's K-12 education standards," the Gazette-Mail reported (February 20, 2016). But when the bill came to the House floor, Michel Moffatt (R-District 22) moved to amend the bill to block the science standards as well. According to the Gazette-Mail (February 25, 2016), Frank Deem (R-District 10), speaking in favor of the amendment, said, "there's nothing that upsets me more than the idea that it's a proven fact that climate change is man made," adding that he does not "want our children to be taught from the first grade how bad fossil fuels are." Moffatt's amendment was adopted on a 57-40 vote, and the final version of HB 4014 was subsequently adopted on a 73-20 vote. The bill now moves to the Senate. In the meantime, as the Gazette-Mail noted, "Educators across the state have been preparing to start teaching the science standards ... next school year." As NCSE previously reported, there was a controversy in 2015 over the West Virginia science standards when the state board of education sought to downplay their treatment of climate change. The most deleterious of the proposed modifications were later withdrawn, although the original language of the standards was not fully restored. "West Virginia's children, like children everywhere, need to learn about the science of climate change," commented NCSE's executive director Ann Reid, "since it is they who will have to live in a world that we have been warming. For their sake, West Virginia's senate needs to reject the proposed repeal of the state science standards." For information on West Virginia's House Bill 4014, visit: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_history.cfm?INPUT=4014&year=2016&sessiontype=RS For the stories from the Charleston Gazette-Mail, visit: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/20160211/committee-still-mum-on-proposed-science-standards-repeal http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/20160220/house-to-consider-bill-with-test-opt-out-provision-no-standards-repeal http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/20160225/language-blocking-science-standards-back-in-bill And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in West Virginia, visit: http://ncse.com/news/west-virginia TWO (OR THREE) DOWN IN OKLAHOMA Oklahoma's House Bill 3045, which would, if enacted, have deprived administrators of the ability to prevent teachers from miseducating students about "scientific controversies," died in the House Rules Committee on February 26, 2016, when a deadline for bills in the House of Representatives to be reported from committee expired. The sole sponsor of HB 3045 was Sally Kern (R-District 84), a persistent sponsor of antiscience legislation in the Sooner State. Kern's antiscience bills have elicited criticism from scientific and educational organizations within the state and across the country, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science. HB 3045 is the second antiscience measure to die in the Oklahoma legislature in 2016, preceded by Senate Bill 1322. Also dying in the House Rules Committee was House Bill 3077, introduced by Jason Nelson (R-District 87). Ominously styled the Oklahoma Academic Freedom Act of 2016, it never contained any specific provisions. For the text of Oklahoma's House Bills 3045 and 3077 as introduced (PDF), visit: http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2015-16%20INT/hB/HB3045%20INT.PDF http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2015-16%20INT/hB/HB3077%20INT.PDF And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Oklahoma, visit: http://ncse.com/news/oklahoma ANTISCIENCE BILL DIES IN OKLAHOMA Oklahoma's Senate Bill 1322, which would, if enacted, have deprived administrators of the ability to prevent teachers from miseducating students about "scientific controversies," died in the Senate Education Committee on February 25, 2015, when a deadline for senate bills to be reported from committee expired. A similar measure, House Bill 3045, was also under consideration. The sole sponsor of Oklahoma's SB 1322 was Josh Brecheen (R-District 6), who introduced similar legislation in four previous legislative sessions. Brecheen's SB 1765 in 2014 -- virtually identical to SB 1322 in 2016 -- was opposed by the National Association of Biology Teachers and the American Institute of Biological Sciences, as well as by the grassroots Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education. For the text of Oklahoma's Senate Bill 1322 as introduced (PDF), visit: http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2015-16%20INT/SB/SB1322%20INT.PDF And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Oklahoma, visit: http://ncse.com/news/oklahoma 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: * Emily Schoerning describing a hands-on demonstration of ocean acidification: http://ncse.com/blog/2016/03/crack-denial-machine-0016946 * Stephanie Keep explaining the redesign of Reports of the NCSE: http://ncse.com/blog/2016/03/new-rncse-is-finally-here-0016948 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. 1904 Franklin Street, Suite 600 Oakland CA 94612-2922 510-601-7203 fax 510-788-7971 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Check out NCSE's 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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