Dive Brief:
- New legislation in Florida strongly supported by a conservative advocacy group opposed to the Common Core State Standards will allow any individual in the state to challenge a textbook or other instructional material if they deem it to be offensive, with the matter being solved through an independent hearing, NPR reports.
- Members of the Florida Citizens' Alliance say they're concerned about how topics like evolution and climate change are broached in textbooks, arguing that too much weight is placed on the certainty of their existence, while others argue textbooks employ "revisionist history" and diminish the importance of individual liberties in lieu of celebrating the federal government.
- Though school districts have the final say on whether such complaints can lead to a change in instructional materials, some educators and critics are concerned about the possibility of a chilling effect that would result in teachers deciding to merely cover the topic of evolution and climate change briefly to avoid political controversy.
Dive Insight:
The Florida legislation comes amid a renewed push with a number of different pieces of legislation nationwide challenging how topics like science are taught in classrooms. The push is reminiscent to debate regarding laws around academic freedom in the midst of the previous decade. And while many new pieces of legislation like the Florida law don't have mandates regarding "teaching the controversy," as some previous academic freedom bills intended to do, they seek to offer members of the public a means to interrupt education they disagree with, or to incentivize teachers to offer instruction that might muddy lessons concerning the scientific community's conclusions on the existence of evolution and the continuance of climate change.
It is possible that these bills are becoming more common due to the election of President Donald Trump and his appointment of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. However, considering the U.S. Department of Education's surprising oversight regarding accountability standards for state plans around the Every Student Succeeds Act, it is possible that academic freedom advocates may find DeVos to not be a staunch supporter in instances where the federal government can play a role.
