Alternative assignments question

One of the best things about Florida Citizens for Science is the network of experienced professionals we have available. If you have a question, I have no doubt this network can come up with a helpful answer. For instance, last week I got a question via e-mail (all personal information removed):

I really appreciate your group and all of you’ve done. Until now I have taught only in private school where I did a whole semester course on evolution.  Now I’m teaching 7th grade life science in a small town. Is there any law in Florida that requires me to give alternative assignments if a parent wants to opt their child out?

And here are a few of the responses we were able to provide this teacher. Response 1:

If this is a Florida public school, the teacher’s job is to teach the standards approved by their district. The New Generation Sunshine State Standards, which include evolution, are in force in the state of Florida. There is NO state mandate to exempt any student from instruction in Florida for anything but dissection. If the teacher doesn’t know what to do, the department chairman, the district science supervisor or the principal of the school should have a copy of the district science standards requirements for that particular course. Teachers cannot exempt a student from instruction on what may be tested on the Science FCAT.

Response 2:

When the State Board of Education passed the new standards there was no exception for parents to opt out.  No legislature since has changed that law (yet). However, [school district] is a charter school system.  I have never been sure of what laws pertain to charter schools and which do not.  However, I believe, even charter school kids must take the FCAT and evolution is covered in that test. To me that is a powerful argument for kids not to opt out.  It is also powerful to principals who need to keep their FCAT scores up.

Response 3:

Randy Moore’s 2004 survey of teachers’ perceptions regarding legal issues surrounding evolution is, from my perspective, a must-read for any K-12 science teacher.  It includes this specific issue, and provides the legal precedents.  The full reference is below.  Here’s the relevant question from his survey and the relevant legal cases:

Students and their parents claim that evolution offends and is incompatible with their religious beliefs. Must teachers modify their teaching to accommodate the students’ right to religious freedom?
        *Correct Answer:  No
        *Percent Answering Correctly:  91

Case Precedents:  (Wright v. Houston Independent School District, 366 F. Supp. 1208 [S.D. Tex. 1972], aff’d, 486 F.2d 137 [5th Cir. 1973], cert. denied sub. nom.; Burstyn v. Wilson, 343 U.S. 495, 505 [1952]; Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97 [1968]).

And as others have essentially said … to provide alternative assignments would put the teacher in a position of explicitly shirking their written work assignment as defined by the state science standards, and thus at risk of dismissal. 

Full reference: Moore, Randy.  2004.  How Well Do Biology Teachers Understand the Legal Issues Associated with the Teaching of Evolution?.  BioScience, 54(9; September
2004):  860-865.

Response 4:

This doesn’t address the legal question specifically, but: Overcoming Obstacles to Evolution Education: The OOPSIE Compromise—A Big Mistake

If you have anything to add to the conversation, please feel free to do so in the comments. And if anyone out there ever has a question just send it my way. We’ll get an answer.