Senator wants theories taught in ‘balanced’ way

State Sen. Dennis Baxley, who once said controversy about evolution being taught in public schools “will never be over,” wants to make Florida schools teach “controversial theories” in science subjects in a “balanced” manner.

Baxley, R-Ocala, filed a bill Friday that would alter Florida’s academic standards in several key ways. His bill would give the state’s 67 school districts the power to adopt academic standards as long as they were as rigorous as Florida’s. Florida has had statewide standards since 1977. Local districts uses those standards to de- vise lessons and courses.

Baxley’s bill (SB 966) also would require that science classes teach “controversial theories and concepts in a factual, objective and balanced manner” — wording that has been used by opponents of teaching evolution.

The State Board of Education in 2008 adopted Florida’s current science standards, requiring for the first time that evolution be taught in public schools. The standards call the theory of evolution the “fundamental concept underlying all of biology” and one that it is “supported by multiple forms of scientific evidence.”

That 2008 vote came after months of controversy about the proposed new standards and created a public outcry, much of it centered on North Florida.

Baxley, then executive director of the Christian Coalition of Florida, said at the time he wanted scientists to “leave the door open a little bit” for the consideration of other evidence about how life on Earth developed.

Besides science, Baxley’s bill also adds onto the state’s social studies standards. His proposal says government and civics classes “must strictly adhere to founding values and principles of the United States,” and economic classes must include “the study of at least Keynesian and Hayekian economic theories.”