Byron Donalds(Photo: Submitted)

Its been more than three years since a school board meeting in Volusia County was cancelled after a heated dispute over what some considered to be pro-Islam content in a history textbook raised safety concerns over potential violence. Dozens of protesters gathered before the meeting, holding signs with messages such as Stop Teaching Lies.

But the battle over what should be taught in classrooms is still raging, and its expanded to the state level.

Last week state Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Naples, introduced House Bill 989, which specifiescriteria classroom materials must meet. It states these materials must provide a noninflammatory, objective, and balanced viewpoint on issues, be free of pornography, and be age appropriate. If passed, the bill would also give all taxpayersthe right to dispute these materials in front of a school board. In Donaldshometown in Collier County that right is reserved for parents only.

Donalds, whose three sons attend a charter school in Southwest Florida, said the bill is intended to ensure children are exposed to quality instructional material that adheres to Florida standards and to provide an easily accessible avenue for the public to vet classroom materials.

Donalds assured the purpose of his bill is not to accomplish a defined outcome.

His critics and there are many argue the bill gives evolution and climate change skeptics a platform to influence how these subjects are taught in classrooms, or if theyll be taught at all.

In the extreme case, is that possible? Yes, Donalds said. But (these critics) are trying to read down a slippery slope that doesnt exist.

Donalds emphasized such changes could only be made if approved by a school board.

Collier's school board is currently made up of three moderate and two conservative members, one of which is Donalds'wife, Erika. If the bill is passed, significantmodificationsto thecurriculum would be highly unlikely. However three seats will be up for election in 2018, and if those are won by conservatives, the county could witness major changes in what students are being taught.

Many districts in Florida are conservative, and those values and ideologies may alreadybe reflected in their elected school board members.

This has caused a chilling effect on teachers, said Brandon Haught, a high school biology and environmental science teacher in Orange City, Florida, and a founding member of Florida Citizens for Science, a group that describes their mission as defending against attacks on science education from lawmakers.

Haught pointed out many people find the teaching of evolution and climate change inflammatory and unbalanced, thus any person visiting Florida who pays tax on a cup of coffee could make the case for teaching creationism and non-human induced climate change in front of a school board. If the majority of the board agrees, those topics would be integrated into the curriculum of each public school in that district.

We would definitely not want that being taught in a science classroom, because, well, its not science, Haught said.

Keith Flaugh, co-director of the Florida Citizens Alliance, a conservative group that helped write the language for the bill, doesnt deny the possibility of that outcome.

So long as the material is presented in a balanced way, thats fair game, he said. We want kids to get a balanced view of the world, not an indoctrinated view of the world.

Mike Mogil, co-owner of Mathworks Tutoring in Naples and a former meteorologist, said if the bill is passed he would use the opportunity as a non-parent to challenge how climate change is taught.

On a scale of 1 to 10, 6,000 I would be there in front of the school board, he said. If were going to teach climate change, lets teach it in the context of geological changes. Not to say that humans are great stewards of planet Earth we are not but CO2 produced by humans is not the primary cause.

But Flaugh assured that exposing children to these types of alternative views isnt the intention of the bill.

Our kids should not be pawns between the Rs and the Ds, he said.

Flaugh said he identified 60 textbooks used in several Florida counties that he believes violate Florida standards because they contain abusive material.

This is not just about pornography. This is not just about religious indoctrination. This is not just about political indoctrination. This is about the total rewriting of our constitutional values, he said.

Andrea Messina, executive director of the Florida School Board Association, said she thinks teachers and administrators do a good job of vetting school materials and ensuring they comply with Florida standards.

People dont just randomly bring in books for no reason, she said.

However, Messina embraces the idea of opening up the materials vetting process to taxpayers. She said it would encourage parents to become more involved and open up an important dialogue that would make us be more intentional about what we use and why we use it.

State Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, disagrees. She said the bill has good policy intent but that the vetting process shouldnt be left up to all taxpayers.

The whole random nature of it would make it chaotic. I dont think theyre accomplishing what they intended to, she said.

Donalds said part of the reason he hopes to expand vetting rights to the public is to help relieve parents of that responsibility.

If you have two or three children and you work all day and take your kids to extracurricular activities and put food on the table, its so incredibly difficult to find the time to sit there and go through that process, he said. We should let the public, who funds education, have a seat at the table.

In Collier County, that process requires a parent to go directly to their childs teacher to address their concerns. If a solution isnt reached with the teacher, the problem would be put forth to the principal, then the districts curriculum specialist and then the school board.

Collier County school board vice chairwoman Erika Donalds said shes not happy with the status quo.

Theres excessive red tape. The process really discourages anyone from bringing up an issue, she said.

Furthermore, she notes some Florida counties dont have a defined process for how parents can challenge their childs curriculum in front of a school board.

Though anyone has the right to voice their opinion during the public comments portion of a school board meeting, many proponents of the bill argue these speakers arent taken seriously.

The school board has the purview to largely ignore them, Byron Donalds said. We all know that doesnt actually put you in the game.

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Teaching of evolution, climate change at stake in Byron Donalds' bill - Naples Daily News