Florida's Educational Debate (Video)

Florida's educational governing body (State School Board?) has just finished debating whether or not to require schools in the state to teach evolution in its science curriculum. The subject came up when the state realized that it was dead last in science scores among the 50 states. Yep, it's easy for an educated person to see how not teaching prevailing science theory would cause the children to score poorly on science tests.

During the debates and statewide hearings, the uneducated and the religious zealots came out of the woodwork to try to defend their indefensible view of the world. The video below shows one such man trying to make sense of the senseless.

Florida - Sinking or Floating? (News) (Commentary)

Carl Hiaasan, in the Miami Herald writes about the strife in the state of Florida over the teaching of evolution in the state's public schools. It's a great article with humor tossed in to make it a good read. Here are just a couple of one-liners from the article to whet your taste buds.

In a move that could endanger Florida's flaky backwater reputation, the state Board of Education is poised to endorse the teaching of evolution as a science.

This is a dangerous idea -- not the presentation of Darwinism in schools, but the presentation of Florida as a place of progressive
scientific thought.

In recent weeks, the Board of Education has been swamped by e-mails and letters from religious conservatives who advocate teaching creationism or intelligent design, and who believe evolution should be discussed strictly as a ``theory.''

For those who wish to see Florida standing still, if not sinking, this is a fantastic strategy. In fact, it could be expanded to revise other educational doctrines.Let's start teaching gravity as a ''theory,'' too. And don't forget the solar system -- what proof do we really have, besides a bunch of fuzzy, fake-looking photos, that Mars really
exists?