NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2013/11/22

(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)

Dear friends of NCSE,

It's not too late to register for NCSE's first webinar for science
education activists. Meanwhile, NCSE recruited fifty-two scientific
and scholarly societies to support good science education in Texas.
Kudos for NCSE's incoming executive director Ann Reid in Science
Insider. A decision from the Supreme Court of Ohio ends a creationist
teacher's challenge to his termination. And NCSE's announcement that
Ann Reid is to be its new executive director.

NCSE'S FIRST WEBINAR FOR ACTIVISTS

What can citizens like you do to respond when science education comes
under attack? How can you and other concerned citizens organize to
fight back? What can you do to prevent attacks on science education in
your community? NCSE is pleased to announce the first of a new series
of on-line workshops aimed at broadening and deepening the networks
that make our work possible. The workshop begins at 3:00 p.m. Pacific
time (6:00 p.m. Eastern time) on November 25, 2013, and spaces are
still available, so register now! (The session will be recorded, so
don't worry if you're unable to register or participate.)

This first webinar will survey the skills and resources that concerned
citizens need in responding to attacks on science education. Topics
will include how to build a network of like-minded people before and
during a crisis, how to respond to an attack on science education, how
to prevent a crisis from emerging in the first place, and how to
prepare for a crisis and make the eventual reaction more effective.
The webinar is intended for anyone from experienced activists to
relative novices.

Session leader Josh Rosenau has been Programs and Policy Director at
NCSE for six years, working with parents and teachers to resolve
anti-evolution attacks and defuse conflicts over climate change
education. Before joining NCSE, he was a graduate student in biology
in Kansas and was drawn into the battles over evolution in the state's
science standards. At NCSE, he trains scientists to speak about
evolution to potentially hostile audiences, testifies before state
board of education meetings, and helps local networks of citizens to
plan their responses to statewide legislation and and local conflicts.

For registration for the webinar, visit:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2080579819433635073

For Josh Rosenau's post about the webinar at NCSE's blog, visit:
http://ncse.com/blog/2013/11/who-you-gonna-call-0015199 

A GROUNDSWELL OF SUPPORT IN TEXAS

When the Texas state board of education held its final public hearing
on science textbook adoption on November 20, 2013, NCSE's Joshua
Rosenau was on hand to present the board with a statement urging the
adoption of the textbooks endorsed by no fewer than fifty-one
scientific and educational societies.

The statement observed, "Evolution is the foundation of modern
biology, an explanation for the diversity of life on earth which has
opened up tremendous scienti?c and technological opportunities. It is
central to ?elds as diverse as agriculture, computer science,
engineering, geology, and medicine. The teaching of evolution and --
for similar reasons -- climate change should not be undermined in
textbooks, whether by minimizing, misrepresenting, or misleadingly
singling them out as controversial or in need of greater scrutiny than
other topics are given, adding, "By adopting textbooks recommended by
the top scientists and teachers in Texas, you will give students and
teachers the foundation for an exemplary science education, the sort
of education that they will need to succeed in the 21st century."

Among the signatory organizations were the National Academy of
Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, the Society for the
Study of Evolution, the National Association of Biology Teachers, and
the National Science Teachers Association.

Rosenau also submitted separate but concurring statements from the
Geological Society of America, the American Society for Microbiology's
Education Board and Committee on K-12 Outreach, and the American
Geological Institute, all urging the board to adopt the textbooks
under consideration.

Also urging the board to adopt the textbooks was the Texas Freedom
Network, which submitted a petition signed by 25,000 Texans. TFN also
organized a "thunderclap" -- a simultaneous on-line demonstration via
Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr -- for November 21, 2013. The board is
expected to make its decision on the textbooks by November 22, 2013.

For the four statements (all PDF), visit:
http://ncse.com/files/pub/evolution/states/2013_TX_SBOE_from_NCSE.pdf 
http://ncse.com/files/pub/evolution/states/2013_TX_SBOE_from_GSA.pdf 
http://ncse.com/files/pub/evolution/states/2013_TX_NCSE_from_ASM.pdf 
http://ncse.com/files/pub/evolution/states/2013_TX_SBOE_from_AGI.pdf 

For the Texas Freedom Network's website and blog, visit:
http://www.tfn.org 
http://tfninsider.org 

For information about TFN's "thunderclap," visit:
https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/6659-stand-up-for-science?locale=en

KUDOS FOR NCSE'S REID

"Ann Reid has been a researcher, a policy wonk, and a program manager.
In January, she will put on a new hat -- as first responder to attacks
on science education," reported Science Insider (November 20, 2013),
taking notice of NCSE's announcement of Reid's appointment as its new
executive director, succeeding Eugenie C. Scott. The article reviewed
Reid's circuitous route to NCSE, described as "a powerful defender of
the teaching of evolution and climate change in U.S. public schools."

"I see our role as doing everything we can to help science teachers
teach good science," Reid was quoted as saying about NCSE. "Evolution
and climate change are two topics in which they might find it
difficult to do so, because of outside pressure from parents and some
local officials. So our job is to help them make sure that doesn’t
happen, by giving them the tools they need to fight back." Quoting
NCSE's Scott, she added, "We don't put out the fire. But we pass out
the fire extinguishers."

Bonnie Bassler, the Squib Professor in Molecular Biology at Princeton
University and the chair of the board of governors for the American
Academy of Microbiology, of which Reid is presently the director,
predicted success for Reid in her new position. "Ann is an expert at
navigating the science-policy-society interface," she said. "Plus, she
has a knack for making complicated subjects understandable to broad
audiences. She will bring rigor and a passion for science to her new
role at NCSE."

For the story in Science Insider, visit:
http://news.sciencemag.org/climate/2013/11/ann-reid-lead-science-education-advocacy-group 

For NCSE's announcement about Reid, visit:
http://ncse.com/news/2013/11/ncses-new-executive-director-0015185 

A FINAL DEFEAT FOR FRESHWATER

In a 4-3 decision issued on November 19, 2013, the Supreme Court of
Ohio upheld the termination of John Freshwater. In its decision, the
court wrote:

***

After detailed review of the voluminous record in this case, we hold
that the court of appeals did not err in affirming the termination.
The trial court properly found that the record supports, by clear and
convincing evidence, Freshwater's termination for insubordination in
failing to comply with orders to remove religious materials from his
classroom. Accordingly, based on our resolution of this threshold
issue, we need not reach the constitutional issue of whether
Freshwater impermissibly imposed his religious beliefs in his
classroom. We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals because
there was ample evidence of insubordination to justify the termination
decision.

***

The decision presumably brings the long and complicated controversy
over Freshwater's inappropriate religious behavior in the classroom to
a final conclusion.

In a section headed "Teaching of Creationism and Intelligent Design
Alongside Evolution Generally Disfavored," the court commented, "We
recognize that this case is driven by a far more powerful debate over
the teaching of creationism and intelligent design alongside
evolution." After briefly reviewing the relevant case law, including
Edwards v. Aguillard and Kitzmiller v. Dover, and implying that
Freshwater's use of antievolution methods and materials might have
been permissible, the court added, "Here, we need not decide whether
Freshwater acted with a permissible or impermissible intent because we
hold that he was insubordinate, and his termination can be justified
on that basis alone."

The three dissenters in the court in effect endorsed Freshwater's
claims on appeal, writing that the case was not about his
insubordination but about his being "singled out by the Mount Vernon
City School District Board of Education because of his willingness to
challenge students in his science classes to think critically about
evolutionary theory and to permit them to discuss intelligent design
and to debate creationism in connection with the presentation of the
prescribed curriculum on evolution." Their dissent also credited
Freshwater's claim, "I do not teach ID or creationism," discounting
the ample evidence in the record to the contrary.

The case began in 2008, when a local family accused Freshwater, a
Mount Vernon, Ohio, middle school science teacher, of engaging in
inappropriate religious activity and sued Freshwater and the district.
Based on the results of an independent investigation, the Mount Vernon
City School Board voted to begin proceedings to terminate his
employment. After thorough administrative hearings that proceeded over
two years and involved more than eighty witnesses, the presiding
referee issued his recommendation that the board terminate
Freshwater's employment with the district, and the board voted to do
so in January 2011. (The family’s lawsuit against Freshwater was
settled in the meantime.)

Freshwater challenged his termination in the Knox County Court of
Common Pleas in February 2011. When the challenge was unsuccessful, he
then appealed the decision to Ohio's Fifth District Court of Appeals
in December 2011. NCSE filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the
appellate court, arguing that Freshwater's materials and methods
concerning evolution "have no basis in science and serve no
pedagogical purpose." In March 2012, the Fifth District Court of
Appeals upheld the lower court's rejection of Freshwater's challenge.
Freshwater then appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court in April 2012, and
when his appeal was accepted, NCSE filed a friend-of-the-court brief
again.

Documents relevant to Freshwater's termination and the subsequent
court case areavailable on NCSE's website. Extensive blog coverage of
the Freshwater saga, including Richard B. Hoppe's day-by-day account
of Freshwater's termination hearing, is available at The Panda's Thumb
blog; search for "Freshwater". Hoppe contributed "Dover Comes to Ohio"
-- a detailed account from a local observer of the whole fracas, from
the precipitating incident to Freshwater's appeal -- to Reports of the
National Center for Science Education 32:1. And Rob Boston reviewed
the case in the November 2012 issue of Americans United for Separation
of Church and State's magazine Church & State.

For the Supreme Court of Ohio's decision (PDF), visit:
http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/0/2013/2013-Ohio-5000.pdf 

For NCSE's collection of documents relevant to the case, visit:
http://ncse.com/creationism/legal/freshwater-termination-hearing 

For The Panda's Thumb blog, visit:
http://pandasthumb.org/ 

For Richard B. Hoppe's "Dover Comes to Ohio" in RNCSE, visit:
http://reports.ncse.com/index.php/rncse/article/view/99/92 

For Rob Boston's article in Church & State, visit:
http://blog.au.org/church-state/november-2012-church-state/featured/insidious-design 

And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Ohio, visit:
http://ncse.com/news/ohio 

NCSE'S NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

NCSE is pleased to announce that Ann Reid will be the new executive
director of NCSE. Reid succeeds Eugenie C. Scott, who served as
executive director for twenty-seven years, 1986 to 2013.

Like NCSE itself, Reid combines scientific excellence with
communications expertise. For fifteen years she worked as a research
biologist at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, where she was
responsible for sequencing the 1918 influenza virus. She then served
as a Senior Program Officer at the National Research Council’s Board
on Life Sciences for five years and then, most recently, as director
of the American Academy of Microbiology. In both roles she oversaw
major efforts aimed at communicating science to the public.

Now Reid is bringing her talents to NCSE, to lead the organization as
it continues its work in defending the integrity of science education,
especially with regard to evolution and climate science. "It is
crucial, now more than ever, for students to understand evolution and
climate science," Reid commented in a November 18, 2013, press release
from NCSE. "I am excited at the prospect of helping NCSE to continue
its important work in ensuring that these topics are taught properly
-- accurately, thoroughly, and without ideological interference."

Scott expressed her pleasure with the choice of Reid as the new
executive director of NCSE. "Her stint as a research scientist grounds
her in what science is and what scientists do. Her work at the
National Research Council connected her with the top scientists in the
country. And her experience as the director of a non-profit
organization provides her with invaluable knowhow." She added, "I have
no doubt that attacks on science education will continue. But with
Reid at the helm, I have no doubt that NCSE will continue to be at the
forefront of the defense."

When Reid begins as executive director, Scott will become Chair of
NCSE's Advisory Council, a group of eminent scientists and scholars
who support NCSE's activities.

For the press release from NCSE, visit:
http://ncse.com/climate-evolution/ncse-announces-new-executive-director 

For information about NCSE's Advisory Council, visit:
http://ncse.com/about/advisory-council 

WHAT'S NEW FROM THE SCIENCE LEAGUE OF AMERICA

Have you been visiting NCSE's blog, The Science League of America,
recently? If not, then you've missed:

* Glenn Branch discussing Alfred Russel Wallace's debunking of Martian canals:
http://ncse.com/blog/2013/11/wallace-red-planet-0015171 

* Peter Hess getting medieval with "Albert the Great and the
Foundations of Science":
http://ncse.com/blog/2013/11/albert-great-foundations-science-0015182 

* Mark McCaffrey discussing a state-by-state public opinion poll on climate:
http://ncse.com/blog/2013/11/all-over-map-0015187 

* Minda Berbeco considering climate change inaction from the
perspective of a former smoker:
http://ncse.com/blog/2013/11/smoke-gets-your-eyes-0015191 

And much more besides!

For The Science League of America, visit:
http://ncse.com/blog 

Thanks for reading. And don't forget to visit NCSE's website --
http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on 
evolution and climate education and threats to them.

--
Sincerely,

Glenn Branch
Deputy Director
National Center for Science Education, Inc.
420 40th Street, Suite 2
Oakland, CA 94609-2509
510-601-7203 x305
fax: 510-601-7204
800-290-6006
branch@ncse.com 
http://ncse.com 

Check out NCSE's new blog, Science League of America:
http://ncse.com/blog 

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http://reports.ncse.com 

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