Teaching of evolution, climate change at stake in Naples legislator Donalds’ bill – Naples Daily News

Byron Donalds(Photo: Submitted)

It has been more than three years since a School Board meeting in Volusia County was canceled after a heated dispute over what some considered to be pro-Islam content in a history textbook raised safety concerns about 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 still is raging, and it hasexpanded 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 also would 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 way for the public to vet classroom materials.

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

His critics and there are many argue the bill would giveskeptics of evolution and climate change a platform to influence how those subjects are taught in classroomsor whether theywould be taught at all.

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

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

The CollierCounty School Board now is 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.

But three seats will be up for election in 2018, and if those are won by conservatives, the county could see major changes in what students are taught.

Many districts in Florida are conservative, and those values and ideologies already might be 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.

He isa founding member of Florida Citizens for Science, a group that describes their mission as defending against attacks on science education from lawmakers.

Haught said many people find the teaching of evolution and climate change inflammatory and unbalanced, so, if Donalds' bill becomes law,anyone who pays tax on a cup of coffee while visiting Floridacould advocateteaching creationism and that climate change isn't caused by humans.

If the majority of the school board agreed, 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, as a non-parent, wouldchallenge how climate change is taught.

I would be there in front of the school board, Mogil 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.

However, Flaugh said exposing children to such 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 thinksviolate Florida standards because they contain abusive material.

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

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," Passidomo said. "I dont think theyre accomplishing what they intended to.

Donalds said one 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, Donalds said.

In Collier County, that process requires parents to go directly to their childrens teachers to express their concerns.

If a solution isnt reached with the teacher, the problem would be presented to the principal, then the districts curriculum specialist and then the School Board.

Collier County School Board vice chairwoman Erika Donalds Byron Donalds' wife said she is not happy with the status quo.

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

Furthermore, she said, some Florida counties dont have a defined process for how parents can challenge their childrens curricula in front of a school board.

Anyone can voice an opinion during the public comments part of a school board meeting, but many proponents of the bill say such 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.

Read or Share this story: http://nplsne.ws/2mdyyPn

More here:

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