— First of all, since I’m a part-time college student slowly working my way toward becoming a science teacher here in the Sunshine State, I’m particularly irritated by this bit of news.
The state Board of Education more than tripled the fees for teacher certification tests, from $150 to $480.
Gee, thanks. I can just feel the love you have for teachers, Florida.
— Here is a story online at Seed magazine written by NCSE’s Josh Rosenau concerning a looming battle over science textbook content in Texas. It’s an OK story, but what bothers me is:
… my colleagues and I worked hard to influence the Texas School Board over the months of hearings, providing them with a statement signed by 54 scientific and educational societies opposing “any effort to undermine the teaching of biological evolution and related topics.†We worked with local activists to organize constituents and political honchos who educated board members about the importance of evolution to science education.
Yes, NCSE folks were invaluable in helping out in Texas. But “we worked with local activists” is the only shoutout to all the hard-working Texas citizens-for-science-type folks? I’m sorry, Josh, but that’s kinda insulting, in my humble opinion. [edited to add: As explained in the comments, it was the editors who decided to slice out mention of specific groups due to space limitation. Sorry, Josh.] I spoke with Eugenie Scott about Texas events when she was here in Florida earlier this month. She had a lot of positive things to say about the dedication, knowledge, expertise and connections the local folks brought to the table. Much more credit needs to given to them.
— If you are heading for some water fun, watch out for the critters!
“The more that Florida’s boaters know about manatees and how to operate their vessels safely in waters that are shared by manatees, the better the chance we have of reducing the number of watercraft injuries and mortalities for this endangered species.â€
— And some critters of the air deserve respect as well: Ospreys. They know what makes a relationship work.
Researchers know ospreys mate for life but take separate vacations.
“Some have suggested that’s how they can mate for life,” he says with a chuckle. The birds migrate separately and the males return to their breeding grounds a few days to a week before the females.
— You might not want to tick off a mockingbird. They hold grudges.
— Animal evolution gets a bit too much attention. Some University of Florida researchers would rather figure out the mysteries of plant evolution.
You are entirely right that more credit is due to great groups like TCS, TFN, Stand Up For Science, TAMEST, The Biotechnology Institute, AGI, STAT, and a host of other state and national groups that helped NCSE’s efforts in Texas. Alas, word length restrictions and the demands of editors made it impossible to fully acknowledge that assistance. Earlier drafts credited groups other than Texas Freedom Network by name, but those shout-outs got cut. I also had a paragraph specifically advocating the creation of FCS-like groups, including your use of Science Cafes, which also didn’t fit into the space allotted.
Editors also changed “Evolution is still the most common target in science education standards: Kansas nearly scrubbed it in 2005 and Florida only added the ‘e-word’ last year,” to the less precise “… and Florida only made it a requirement to teach the ‘e-word’ last year.” Evolutionary concepts did occur in earlier standards, but the “e-word” itself didn’t appear until last year. Standards don’t quite mandate what gets taught so much as they strongly urge certain content. Ah, well.
McLeroy’s nomination is still alive in the Texas senate. Does any Texas group have any juice left? All that’s required to defeat him is for the few dems in the senate to remain opposed to him. According to news accounts, if two vote for him, he’s in. There’s no speculation about any republicans voting against him. Sad situation.
I’ve edited the post to apologize and explain, Josh. Thanks for dropping by and explaining.
However, I do think that citizen groups need much more recognition for all the work they do, oftentimes on a volunteer basis.
No need to apologize. I agreed to those cuts, and I take responsibility for them. You are right to call me out on that. NCSE always tries to give credit to the locals. We exist to serve you guys, we would be powerless without folks like FCS, TCS, TFN, etc. The article gives them shorter shrift than I’d like, but I hope it doesn’t give the impression that NCSE works in a vacuum. If that’s the sense it gives, then I messed up and I apologize.