Florida and Texas Race to the Bottom

A couple of weeks ago it looked like Texas was aching to be the next battleground over evolution. But it appears that Florida is not content to live in Texas's shadow. There were rumblings in December. Florida's science education standards are up for review and the draft treats evolution in a straightforward manner. Now various school boards are adopting resolutions that call on the state Board of Education to treat evolution as one of several "theories." Clay and St. John's counties are the latest.

Tommy Allen, District 2 board member, talked for about 6 minutes before members of the public were invited to speak. He explained that he was taught both evolution and other theories in school, and he found that another theory, that of a grand clock-winder, stood out to him. He explained that it was impossible that “things could just happen” and that when he gardens, he never plants a seed for it to grow into a different type of plant than it should. He wants the standards to include other theories which are “just as logically likely”.

The resolution passed unanimously. As a pragmatic matter, given the court history, do you think the Board of Education should listen to them?

I don't get these people, and yet I do. Florida is my native state and I can testify that there are strong Bible belt (esp. Baptist) currents there. (At my high school graduation, the commencement speaker, a local news anchor known for her religious devotion, made clear New Testament references and received a standing ovation.) On occasion I, too, was caught up in the war-on-Christians mentality.

But don't worry, Texas isn't going down without a fight. They are considering whether to give certification to the Institute for Creation Research's graduate degree in science education. You read that right.

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