Media Alert

The following two media alerts are being sent out to news outlets statewide: First one is notice of a press conference and the second is a notice of a Public Roundtable Discussion. Reporters are encouraged to visit the Florida Citizens for Science Media Page.

** NEWS CONFERENCE – MONDAY 4/14 **
Coalition of Renowned Scientists Dispute So-Called Evolution Academic Freedom Bills SB 2692 and HB 1483

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Citizens for Science and a coalition of stellar science organizations will hold a news conference on current legislative threats to the science curriculum in Florida’s public schools. Two bills, SB 2692 and HB 1483, could open the door to teaching of religious beliefs as non-scientific information in science classrooms. The panelists will address why the so-called “Evolution Academic Freedom Act” is bad for science education in Florida and the growth of Florida’s economy.

WHO: Florida Citizens for Science and coalition members.
WHAT: News Conference on “Evolution Academic Freedom” Bills.
WHEN: MONDAY, April 14 at 12:00PM.
WHERE: Outside Capitol Building, Waller Park near concrete fountain with dolphins.

** PUBLIC ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION – MONDAY 4/14 **
Media Alert: Evolution Academic Freedom Bills Spark Public Roundtable Discussion

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Citizens for Science and a coalition of stellar science organizations will present an exciting roundtable discussion on current legislative threats to science curriculum in Florida’s public schools. The panelists will address why the so-called “Evolution Academic Freedom Act” introduced in the state House and Senate is bad for science education in Florida and the growth of Florida’s economy.

WHO: Florida Citizens for Science and coalition members

WHAT: Roundtable Discussion with the following:
> Dave Campbell, high school science teacher
> Maryann Fiala, Executive Director, American electronics Alliance (AeA) Florida Council (Fiala had to cancel.)
> Dr. Harold Kroto, Nobel Prize Winner Chemistry 1996, Florida State University Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry
> Vic Walczak, Legal Director, ACLU of Pennsylvania, Lawyer in 2005 landmark case Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District challenging the teaching of intelligent design in public schools.
> Ann Lunsden – Dr Lansden is professor of biology at FSU. She is a past president of the National Association of Biology Teachers.

WHEN: Monday, April 14 at 7:00PM

WHERE: Challenger Learning Center, Digital Dome/Planetarium, 200 South Duval Street, Tallahassee. The roundtable is free and open to the public. Legislators are also invited and encouraged to attend.

The event is an opportunity for the community to address the bill, which singles out evolution for special treatment and exposes school districts to liability if teachers and students inject their religious beliefs into the science classroom in the guise of “science.” This bill takes control of the curriculum away from education professionals. It is a red herring designed to suggest that discrimination exists where it does not, and to draw attention away from the subject matter of creationism. No law is required to authorize the teaching of scientific fact.

Participating organizations: American Society for Human Genetics (ASHG), American Association of Anatomists (AAA), American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), Genetics Society of America (GSA), National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT), Society for Developmental Biology (SDB), American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, National Science Teachers Association, and The Biotechnology Institute.

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