“Standing Up for the Little Guy”
“Standing Up for the Little Guy”
Chapter 11 traces to the present day the continuing, though less vociferous, controversy over the teaching of evolution in Florida classrooms. In 2008, a guest speaker to a Darwin Day event––Darwin Day is an unofficial holiday that celebrates the naturalist's birth––was abruptly disinvited when it was discovered that she meant to talk about evolution. Senator Stephen Wise filed bills in 2009 and again in 2011 mandating academic freedom for teachers who don't believe in evolution. Both legislative efforts failed. Another textbook, Life on an Ocean Planet, attracted attention for creationist passages that were later removed. Various events on the order of the 2006 “Darwin or Design” conference stirred up large anti-evolution crowds. And in 2012, Florida's new state science standards got a disappointing low grade from the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. The chapter concludes by taking a look at a current anti-evolution crusader making waves in Columbia County.
Keywords: Academic freedom, Columbia County, Darwin Day, Darwin or Design conference, Sen. Stephen Wise
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