Textbook debate still evolving

Folks in Brevard County need keep an eye on this textbook issue. It’s not a done deal yet as school board member Amy Kneessy makes clear.

Textbook debate still evolving

Brevard County School Board member Amy Kneessy wants the school district to adopt a biology textbook that includes passages on divine creation and intelligent design, going against a district committee’s unanimous recommendation.

“It’s so innocuous,” she said of the text. “To me, those two paragraphs belong there.”

The school board is scheduled to vote Tuesday to adopt new elementary and secondary science textbooks, which were recommended by a committee of teachers, administrators and parents who spent months reviewing dozens of state-approved books.

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But Kneessy said choosing curriculum and textbooks are among board members’ top responsibilities.

She thinks the passages in question simply provide cultural context, integrating social studies and science without promoting alternatives to evolution. Her position doesn’t go as far as recommending that Biblical creation or intelligent design be taught, she said.

“We need to stop being so hypersensitive about this subject,” she said. “We’re making the subject taboo, and I think that’s wrong.”

Here is Kneessy’s information should you wish to express your concern about her comments.

DISTRICT 3 — Amy Kneessy — (2004-2008)
285 Satellite Avenue, Satellite Beach, FL 32937
779-8198/631-1911 ext. 412
kneessya@brevard.k12.fl.us