NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2017/05/05
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2017-05-05 13:48.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Disappointing news from Alabama. A preview of A Global Warming Primer. And finally good news from Oklahoma.
ANTISCIENCE RESOLUTION ADOPTED IN ALABAMA The Alabama Senate voted to adopt House Joint Resolution 78 on a voice vote on May 2, 2017, joining the Alabama House of Representatives, which voted to adopt the resolution in April 2017. The resolution ostensibly urges state and local education authorities to promote the academic freedom of science teachers in the state's public schools. "Biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning" are specifically identified as controversial. As NCSE previously reported, Amanda Glaze, writing on AL.com (April 27, 2017), noted that the lead sponsor of HJR 78 acknowledged that his intention was to encourage the teaching of creationism, asking, "So HJR 78 is aimed at encouraging teachers not only to miseducate their students but also to violate the law of the land. Is this a responsible legislative goal?" Joining Glaze in criticism of the resolution was the editorial board of the Anniston Star (April 28, 2017), which observed, "HJR 78 serves one purpose -- to allow teachers to weaken the state Board of Education’s science curriculum on evolution if they so choose," adding, "This is yet another example of legislators ignoring Alabama's true needs." HJR 78 is the second example of a non-binding resolution version of the familiar "academic freedom" acts; the first, Indiana's Senate Resolution 17, was passed by the Indiana Senate on February 27, 2017. For Alabama's House Joint Resolution 78 as adopted (PDF), visit: http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/ALISON/SearchableInstruments/2017RS/PrintFiles/HJR78-enr.pdf For Amanda Glaze's op-ed and the Anniston Star's editorial, visit: http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/04/alabama_science_literacy_threa.html https://www.annistonstar.com/opinion/editorials/alabama-s-version-of-science/article_0d949f08-2c65-11e7-949e-1730bc6e9b84.html And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Alabama, visit: https://ncse.com/news/alabama A PREVIEW OF A GLOBAL WARMING PRIMER NCSE is pleased to offer a free preview of Jeffrey Bennett's A Global Warming Primer (Big Kid Science, 2016). The preview consists of chapter 2, "The Skeptic Debate," in which Bennett attempts "to explain the four major points of debate that have been raised by the skeptics [of anthropogenic climate change], and ... examine what the evidence says in each case." NCSE's executive director Ann Reid writes, "A Global Warming Primer delivers on its promise. In engaging, accessible, and accurate prose, Jeffrey Bennett clearly explains the science of climate change, ending with a thoughtful exploration of ways to solve the problems it poses for our future." Bennett, as Claire Adrian-Tucci noted, donated five hundred copies to science teachers via NCSE. For the preview of A Global Warming Primer (PDF), visit: https://ncse.com/files/pub/evolution/excerpt--primer.pdf For information about the book from its publisher, visit: http://www.globalwarmingprimer.com/the-book/ And for Claire Adrian-Tucci's blog post about Bennett's generosity, visit: https://ncse.com/blog/2017/02/we-get-by-with-lot-help-from-our-friends-jeffrey-bennett-0018461 OKLAHOMA'S ANTISCIENCE BILL BLOCKED Oklahoma's Senate Bill 393, which would empower science denial in the classroom, failed to receive a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives on April 27, 2017, the last day on which it could do so, and is therefore blocked -- for now. SB 393 would have allowed science teachers to teach anything they pleased, while preventing responsible educational authorities from intervening. No scientific topics are identified as controversial, but the main sponsor is Josh Brecheen (R-District 6), who previously introduced similar legislation that targeted evolution. Previous versions of the bill sponsored by Brecheen -- SB 758 in 2013, SB 1765 in 2014, SB 655 in 2015, and SB 1322 in 2016 -- uniformly died in the Senate Education Committee. But the committee voted to pass SB 393 in February 2017, and the Senate subsequently passed the bill in March 2017. SB 393 was expected to be heard by the House Education Committee, but that committee never scheduled a hearing for the bill. Its sponsors withdrew it and submitted it to the General Government Oversight and Accountability Committee instead, which passed it on a 4-3 vote on April 13, 2017. Among the state-level organizations opposing the bill were the Oklahoma Science Teachers Association, the Oklahoma State School Boards Association, the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration, the Oklahoma chapter of the Sierra Club, and the grassroots pro-science-education group Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education. Among the national organizations opposing the bill were the National Science Teachers Association, the National Association of Biology Teachers, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Since the bill was not voted down, it is technically still alive, and the Oklahoma legislature may consider it again in the second half of the current legislative session, which begins on February 5, 2018. For the text of the most current version of Oklahoma's Senate Bill 393 (PDF), visit: http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2017-18%20FLR/SFLR/SB393%20SFLR.PDF And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Oklahoma, visit: https://ncse.com/news/oklahoma WHAT'S NEW AT NCSE'S BLOG? Have you been visiting NCSE's blog recently? If not, then you've missed: * Emily Schoerning describing the expansion of NCSE's Science Booster Club program: https://ncse.com/blog/2017/04/booster-clubs-coast-to-coast-update-0018523 For NCSE's blog, 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: 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
» 4011 reads
