This just in from the NCSE:

The future of science education in Texas is on the line. The Texas Board of Education, after two previous contentious public hearings on high school science standards (TEKS), meets March 25-27 for its final vote.

As you may recall, at the previous meeting (January 23rd), the board voted to remove “strengths and weaknesses” wording from the science standards. That was a win for science. However, the Board took a big step backwards by allowing creationists to insert bogus attacks on evolution in the Earth and Space Science standards and the Biology standards.

In this final showdown, the Board will decide the science standards governing Texas high schools for the next decade, and affect textbook content throughout the country.

If the board’s creationist amendments stick, says Professor David Hillis of the University of Texas, Austin, “it will be a huge embarrassment to Texas, a setback for science education and a terrible precedent for the state boards overriding academic experts in order to further their personal religious or political agendas. The victims will be the schoolchildren of Texas, who represent the future of our state.” (Hillis was quoted in the Austin American-Statesman.)

Says NCSE Project Director, Steven Newton: “This is the most specific assault I’ve seen against evolution and modern science.”

This could be the most raucous hearing of the bunch. It’s crunch time for both sides, so expect heated testimony, protests, political theatre, and…who knows what else?

The Texas Freedom Network will be present and no doubt have some activities planned for the TV cameras. If you’d like to talk with Dan Quinn of the TFN, don’t hesitate to contact him at 512-322-0545, 512-799-3379 (cell), or dan@tfn.org.

The details on the Board meeting:

When: March 25 to 27 Where: William B. Travis Building, 1701 N. Congress Avenue, Austin, TX

Wednesday, March 25 12 to 6:30 pm: Board of Education Room 1-104 Purpose: Public testimony and debate on the proposed revised science standards. Agenda

Thursday, March 26 9 am: Board of Education Room 1-104 Purpose: The board will debate the issues (the key agenda item is #5…and maybe 8) and take a preliminary vote. Agenda

Friday, March 27 9 a.m.: Board of Education Room 1-104 Purpose: The official final vote. **Note: The vote can change from Thursday to Friday!** Agenda

RESOURCES

Overall board agenda

TEKS, as approved in January –Look for the item labeled: “Proposed Revisions to 19 TAC Chapter 112, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science, Subchapter A, Elementary, Subchapter B, Middle School, and Subchapter C, High School”. A direct link

Analysis of the amendments to the TEKS: What wording is being disputed? http://ncseweb.org/creationism/analysis/analysis-proposed-texas-educational-knowledge-skills-teks-am

NCSE’s Texas coverage

Video of the January 2009 Board of Education meeting Dr. Eugenie Scott’s testimony and Board Chairman Don McLeroy’s commentary (look in the Playlists box)

I just got this brief from Robert Luhn of the NCSE

Representative Leo Berman (Republican, District 6, Smith County) has just introduced HB 2800, which would exempt “certain private nonprofit educational institutions” from the rules other degree-granting schools must follow in Texas.

The aim, apparently, is to help the Institute for Creation Research’s graduate school, which was denied state certification (a precursor to accreditation) when it moved to Texas. The ICR is a “Young Earth Creationist” organization that believes the Earth is 10,000 years old, Noah’s flood really happened, Adam and Eve were real people, etc. The ICR has been pushing the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to certify the ICR’s school, which wants to offer masters degrees in science education. HB 2800 would make that easier, since an institution could request exemption in writing, which the board education could grant by simply issuing a letter.

As the Texas Citizens for Science has noted, certifying ICR to award masters degrees in science education “would be a mockery of science and an injustice to students who work hard in legitimate academic institutions to earn real Masters degrees in science education.”

From intelligent design to “academic freedom” laws to…this. A new approach to smuggling creationism into the classroom.

Text of the bill

Background on Texas legislation and related issues:

“Legislative salvation for the ICR?”

“ICR seeks to grant degrees in Texas”

“Scientists oppose ICR certification in Texas”

“Decision on ICR’s graduate school deferred”

“A Setback for the ICR in Texas”

… again … This just in from the NCSE:

It’s not a hurricane or even a tropical storm. But a small knot of ignorance is twisting through the Florida state senate.

Late last week, Stephen R. Wise (R-District 5) filed Senate Bill 2396, which if passed, would require “[a] thorough presentation and critical analysis of the scientific theory of evolution.” Like other “academic freedom” bills that aim to smuggle creationism back into the classroom, this bill would let educators teach the supposed scientific controversy swirling around evolution.

“There is no controversy among scientists”, says Dr. Genie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE). “Evolution is a proven science, backed by a mountain of evidence. Naturally, scientists continue to test and expand the theory, to debate the patterns and processes of evolution. But telling students that evolution is scientifically shaky is just flat wrong.” Senator Wise hasn’t been shy about his intentions–before he introduced the bill, he admitted his goal was to promote the teaching of “intelligent design” in Florida public schools. “If you’re going to teach evolution, then you have to teach the other side so you can have critical thinking,” said Wise in an interview with the Jacksonville Times-Union. But when the bill was finally filed, all mention of intelligent design was excised.

Florida has recently endured a bout of anti-evolution legislation. House Bill 1483 (filed in early 2008) supposedly protected the right of teachers to “objectively present scientific information relevant to the full range of scientific views regarding biological and chemical evolution”. But Florida newspapers (not to mention the state department of education) could not substantiate any claims of persecution. The House bill–and its Senate counterpart, SB 2692–did not become law because the two chambers couldn’t agree on compromise wording before the end of the legislative session.

Said the Tampa Tribune at the time, “The session will be remembered for what wasn’t done to compromise the quality of education in Florida.”

Will Senator Wise’s bill suffer a similar fate in the land of Disney? The grassroots pro-science group Florida Citizens for Science (www.flascience.org) hopes so. “Florida’s schools and the state as a whole are floundering in financial turmoil, and citizens are demanding our lawmakers focus their attention on this crisis. There is no appetite for embarrassing our state yet again.”

“Florida has bigger fish to fry,” says NCSE Project Director Josh Rosenau. “Florida already has science standards in place; they’ve got a board of education; and they have teachers that know what they’re doing. It’s crazy for legislators to micromanage the classroom.”

CONTACT: Robert Luhn of the NCSE, 510-601-7203, luhn@ncseweb.org

Web site: www.ncseweb.org

To see more on Florida, see: http://ncseweb.org/news/florida

This weekend at Har Mar Mall, in Roseville, just north of the Minneapolis – Saint Paul border.

I’ve been watching this event every year for few years now, and a couple of years ago it got quite interesting when the organizers of the event discovered that I had caught them is a lie and provided photographic evidence on my blog. That prompted them to make a public statement that I was an “Atheist abusing children.” (See this.)

The pot. The kettle. Whatever.

If you are in the vicinity, go to the science fair and do the Lewis Black thing!!!! Don’t forget to bring a fossil.