Florida State Lawmaker Takes Heat For Bill That Would Require Teaching Of 'Non-Evolution'

Florida GOP State Senator Stephen Wise is drawing fire with a legislative proposal that would require schools in the Sunshine State to dramatically change the way evolution is addressed in the classroom, primarily by requiring the teaching of an alternative he calls "non-evolution."

According to his legislation, public school teachers would have to "teach a thorough presentation and critical analysis of the scientific theory of evolution" to students.

"Why would you not teach both theories at the same time?" Wise, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said, according to the Tampa Tribune. "You have critical thinking in school," he continued, telling the outlet that he simply called his alternative "non-evolution."

Wise, who recently championed a successful push to end Florida teacher tenure in favor of a merit-pay system, has quickly received knocks for his bill.

"You can have critical analysis of everything, but the idea that you should single out evolution for critical analysis is problematic," said Joshua Rosenau of the California-based National Center for Science Education told the St. Augustine Record. "It's recognized by the scientific community as the foundation of modern biology."

Others, such as Brandon Haught of Florida Citizens for Science, have been less kind in their assessment of the measure.

It's "quite literally, an embarrassment for our state," Haught told the Tribune.

It's not the first time Wise has tried his hand at this type of legislation. In 2009, Wise mounted a failed effort more specifically focused on teaching intelligent design in public schools. Wise told the Tribune this week, however, that he believes the state Legislature's growing conservative makeup could pave a way for the bill's successful passage this time around.

During his battle then, Wise, a retired teacher himself, made his case on a radio station for including an alternative to evolution in the public school system's science curriculum.

"Why do we still have apes if we came from them?" Wise asked during an interview with the Tampa's WMNF. "And those are the kind of questions kids need to ask themselves. You know, 'How did we get here?' And, you know, there's more than one theory on this thing. And the theory is evolution, the other one is intelligent design."

Comments

[ncsteeler]

03:15 PM on 03/26/2011

There are people out there who believe the earth is flat. There are skeptics (some with PhD's in physics) who offer alternatives to relativity or quantum mechanics to expalin the universe. There's probablly don't believe the sun is the center of the solar system. Others don't believe in DNA or genes or the pythagorean theorem. Should all these alternatives also be taught in schools so that the all knowing students (many of whom can't make change for a dollar) can "make up their own mind"?

[Oceras]

09:39 PM on 03/23/2011

Why do we still have apes around? Um, because they didn't die out.
OK, go ahead. Teach "non-evolution". Teach English. That's non-evolution. Teach Birth Control. That's non-evolution. Teach Stephen Wise. That's non-evolution.
Just don't teach Creationism or some other cockamamie religious subject.
No Wisecracks, please.

[David305]

08:26 PM on 03/23/2011

you believe a virgin gave birth to a man that walked on water, and that a senior citizen collected all the Earth's animals and insects into a boat, but science and evolution can't get past your skeptical intellect. Puzzling.

[Oceras]

09:40 PM on 03/23/2011

How did Noah keep the nematodes alive?

[Nicholas Rowley]

09:47 PM on 03/23/2011

Woo nematodes, they get far too little coverage. ;)

[jrfunkenstein]

10:49 AM on 03/23/2011

Obviously this clown hasn't evolved very much.

No wonder U.S. students are falling behind those of so many other nations when elected officials continue to promote ignorance as an essential addition to the curriculum of public schools.

A recent Newsweek poll found a woeful level of stupidity among Americans who could not pass the civics test administered to those seeking American citizenship.

Welcome to Ronald Reagan's America.

[Lorindol]

03:50 PM on 03/20/2011

The man is criticizing a theory of which he has no understanding.

[jrfunkenstein]

10:50 AM on 03/23/2011

Agree; kudos on your wicked avatar.

Used it myself for a time.

[Oceras]

09:41 PM on 03/23/2011

He's also wanting to teach a subject, that doesn't exist, and of which he has no understanding.

[Nearly A Laugh]

03:26 PM on 03/19/2011

That last paragraph is rather telling. It shows that Mr. Wise is lacking even a basic understanding of the very thing he opposes (Why are there still apes? Seriously?) and that his generic non-evolution theory is actually intelligent design, which is actually creationism.

I hope someday we as a society can look back at these "debates" and laugh, but as time goes on I fear more and more that that day will not happen in my lifetime.

[scoobanchi]

02:27 PM on 03/19/2011

When will we begin teaching evolution in our Sunday school class rooms?

[Nicholas Rowley]

01:14 PM on 03/19/2011

You know what's odd about feckwits like Wise and his ilk? They're the first to decry "politically correct" teaching, which they generally seem to understand as "not teaching the established history so as not to offend the sensibilities of minorities"

But here he is insisting upon teachers changing their syllabi so as not to offend the sensibilities of a specific minority; the irredeemably and willfully ignorant god-botherers. And he's a politician which would make acquiescening to his demands an example of doing something politically correct, albeit "correct" to right-wing politics.

I thought his sort were dead set against that. ;)

[msblynne]

10:16 AM on 03/19/2011

Where are the 15th century devos today, lauding this bill as the right thing to do for our kids in a hyper competitive global marketplace?

[msblynne]

10:02 AM on 03/19/2011

These maroons scorn science but embrace nuclear energy, claim to understand science but tell us that the problem with the reactor in Japan is "no big deal", thump their chests about the bible but embrace a serial liar and adulterer as their standard bearer....a study in contradictions.

[Forester]

09:15 PM on 03/18/2011

I think what we are looking at here is DEVO.

[msblynne]

09:25 AM on 03/19/2011

Just when we can least afford to dumb down the next generation.

[alterego55]

09:01 PM on 03/18/2011

Orwell would be proud of this Christian triplespeak. First it was creationism, then it became intelligent design and now it is non-evolution.

Do you realize that the set of everything in the universe that is non-evolution is pretty darn big? I'm non-evolution and you're non-evolution. My dog is non-evolution.

We really should have an IQ test for elected officials.

[Oceras]

09:46 PM on 03/23/2011

I just can't wait for pre-evolution.

[mathislaw1]

08:58 PM on 03/18/2011

I once saw Sean Hannity arguing with an atheist about god. Sean Hannity's big point was that an atheist believed that something came from nothing. He didn't understand that if you believe in god, you also believe something came from nothing. This is the mentality we are dealing with here.

[mathislaw1]

08:54 PM on 03/18/2011

Wow...."why are there apes if we came from them?" That is the question a three year old would ask. We didn't come from apes Einstein, we share a common ancestors that split about 6 million years ago.

Also, intelligent design in not a scientific theory. A theory in science is essentially a fact. Like the gravitational theory, atomic theory, quantum theory etc. I don't see you religious types disagreeing with those "theories".

[alterego55]

12:00 PM on 03/19/2011

You must have missed the memo.

Gravitational Theory is now Intelligent Falling.
Atomic Theory is now Intelligent Smallness.
Quantum Theory is now Intelligent Randomness.

[mathislaw1]

08:43 PM on 03/18/2011

Maybe we should also teach "non-gravitational theory" also in the physic classroom.