Do you listen to Science Friday? Even if you don’t, can I convince you to tune at 3 p.m. tomorrow (Friday, Sept 1)? Because that’s when I’ll be on the show! Yes, that’s right, this author and Florida Citizens for Science communications director will be chatting with Ira Flatow about science education, our state’s new […]

An editorial was published in a few papers recently, including the Gainesville Sun, opining that Florida’s new instructional materials law isn’t something to get all worked up about: Needless fretting over textbook law. The doomsdayers among us believe Scott and the measure’s supporters have thrust open an educational Pandora’s box, exposing school districts to the “anti-science” […]

There’s quite a bit to discuss today, so let’s get right to it. There are a lot of links in this post to various news articles and opinion pieces. If you only click on one link, though, then click on this one. This is a thorough news piece in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New law expected to […]

Florida’s horrible new Instructional Materials and Religious Liberties in Schools laws are continuing to garner all sorts of news coverage. The latest pieces are great takes on the laws by popular columnists. First we have Fred Grimm’s thoughts in the Miami Herald, New education law allows anti-science mob to go after evolution and climate change: […]

In June 2009, a full eight years ago, I wrote a column published in the Gainesville Sun with the pointed headline: Is science education important to Florida? Is science education important to Florida? That is a relevant question to ask after analyzing the 2009 science FCAT results released last week. There were minimal gains of […]

There’s a teacher support network that assists educators navigate the sometimes tricky task of helping students understand evolution and climate change. It’s called NCSEteach, offered by the National Center for Science Education. I invite you to check out what the program offers. There’s a wonderful Dealing with Denial webpage with lots of helpful links. There’s […]

New York’s flagship public radio station WNYC recently broadcast/published stories about conflicts over teaching evolution and climate change in classrooms across the country. I spent quite a long time talking with a reporter about the situation here in Florida, especially in relation to the Religious Liberties and Instructional Materials bills approved by our state legislature […]

The Florida legislature passed during its 2017 session House Bill 989, a proposed law that will affect how instructional materials for schools are selected and challenged. And evolution is clearly one of the topics likely to be targeted if the bill becomes law. It passed its final vote in the Senate 19 to 17, but all […]

I’ve been working overtime helping Florida Citizens for Science’s campaign against bills in the state legislature that we know will give power to creationists and climate change deniers to harass school boards across the state. I wrote an op-ed and submitted it to several newspapers but didn’t hear back from any for a while. Then […]

I was interviewed earlier this week for a segment on Uptown Radio, a news show produced by students at the Columbia Journalism School. The piece is called Science Teachers Navigate the Changing Political Climate. I talked with the reporter for 22 minutes and I said all sorts of interesting and factual things. The few seconds that […]