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Two-time Education beneficiary National Center for Science Education shares good news in the fight for science education in Texas.

Pop the champagne corks. The Texas Board of Education has unanimously come down on the side of evolution. In a 14-0 vote, the board today approved scientifically accurate high school biology textbook supplements from established mainstream publishers — and did not approve the creationist-backed supplements from International Databases, LLC.

“This is a huge victory for Texas students and teachers,” said Josh Rosenau, NCSE programs and policy director, who testified at the hearings this week. In his testimony, Rosenau urged the board to approve the supplements — recommended by a review panel largely composed of scientists and science educators — without amendments, and to reject International Databases’ creationist submission. The board did just that, and asked for only minimal changes to the approved supplements.

Read the whole post here.

Second-quarter education beneficiary the National Center for Science Education gave us this report about how they are using the funds contributed by members of Foundation Beyond Belief. NCSE was one of our first Encore Beneficiaries, having been our featured education charity in the second quarter of 2010. Members donated $3,630 to NCSE last quarter.

Evolution in the Balance
By Glenn Branch, Deputy Director, National Center for Science Education

In the seven-year period between February 2004 and February 2011, there were thirty-nine “academic freedom” antievolution bills introduced in state legislatures across the country. Seven years, whether fat or lean, and (not quite) forty bills—there’s something almost Biblical about the statistics.

And there’s something almost Biblical about the sponsors and supporters of these bills, too. These bills claim to be extending “academic freedom” to K–12 teachers in the public schools to teach the “strengths and weaknesses” of evolution. But the true aim is to undermine the teaching of evolution—and to encourage the teaching of creationism.

• In New Mexico, the leader of the creationist group supporting House Bill 302 told a newspaper that evolution was a “dogma” pushed by “a priesthood whose underlying philosophy is scientific materialism.”
• In Tennessee, the chief lobbyist behind House Bill 368 and Senate Bill 893 insisted that those bills would allow teachers to recommend intelligent design as “a theory that many scientists are beginning to consider and hold.”
• In Oklahoma, the sponsor of Senate Bill 554 proclaimed that his bill would require “every publically funded Oklahoma school to teach the debate of creation vs. evolution.”

As the only national organization wholly dedicated to defending the teaching of evolution in the public schools, the National Center for Science Education was tracking the “academic freedom” antievolution bills from the get-go.

But we’re not just tracking these bills. We’ve worked, and are working, with local groups to rally opposition to them. We’ve worked, and are working, with national scientific and education organizations to help to educate their members about the problems with “academic freedom” antievolution bills. And we’ve extensively discussed and documented the problems with them in publications for the general public and for the scientific community.

These bills are only the latest challenge to come down the pike, and we continue to defend the teaching of evolution whenever and wherever necessary. To do so, of course, we need the support of people concerned with the integrity of science education. We are thankful for the invaluable support of Foundation Beyond Belief and its members, whose generous donation will help NCSE prepare for the next onslaught of antievolution bills in 2012—likely to include a bill in the Tennessee senate and two bills in the New Hampshire legislature at the very least.

By Brittany Shoots-Reinhard

Our Heart of Humanism Award winner for Best Photo and Best Article were both submitted by Missi Adzima from Valley Skeptics in the Park. Her team has decided to award the two $50 grants they won to the Walk to End Alzheimer’s in memory of Missi’s grandmother. From her walk page: “Last year I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer’s. She was a special lady and it was awful to watch her go from someone so full of life to someone that didn’t even know who I was. I’m walking and raising money in her memory in hopes that there will be a day that nobody has to go through that.” Valley Skeptics’ grants will be donated to Missi’s walk page. With the FBB grant, she is only $100 away from her goal.

Rookie of the Year team Humanists of Rhode Island is using their $50 grant to help the more than 6 million refugees displaced by civil war in Syria. Not only that, but they’re working to raise additional funds for International Rescue Committee via Foundation Beyond Belief’s Humanist Crisis Response.

Most Valuable Volunteer Josh Nankivel is directing his $100 grant to the National Center for Science Education. NCSE was a Foundation Beyond Belief Humanist Giving Education beneficiary in 2010 and 2011. Josh explains “I’ve been a member of the NCSE and decided to give this grant to them because they do great work defending the integrity of science education. I believe the public understanding of science is the primary way to ensure human flourishing and the long term well-being of our planet. The children are our future, and they NEED a solid foundation in science education to be productive citizens and voters.”

Triangle Freethought Society, winner of the Humanism at Work Award for Most Volunteer Hours, is using their $250 grant for their extraordinarily active community service programs. Fellowship of Freethought Dallas won two awards: Feed the Need Award for Outstanding Food-Related Volunteering and the Eat. Sleep. Volunteer. Repeat. Award for Most Volunteer Events. They are using their $150 for their community outreach programs, which will no doubt include something food-related.

We are overwhelmed with the generosity shown by our Heart of Humanism Award winners.

This post is part of our Humanist Perspectives series. In this series, we invite guest contributors to explore active humanism and what it means to be a thoughtful, engaged member of society. Please share your thoughts in the comments!

by Michael D. Barton

I have many favorite quotes about children and nature, but here are two very simple yet insightful ones:

“What is the extinction of a condor to a child who has never seen a wren?” – Robert Michael Pyle, author

“How can we expect [children] to really care about their natural environment if they’ve never had an experience in it?” – Martin LeBlanc, Sierra Club

Taking your child or children on an afternoon trip to the zoo is a great thing to do, but what does that matter if a child is not connected in some way to the animals that live near their home? Why should we care to learn about pandas and cheetahs and polar bears if we haven’t learned about salmon and owls and dragonflies?
My five-year-old son is a member of a generation that will face serious issues regarding the environment. As his father, I strive to raise him to be a scientifically literate and environmentally conscious adult. While I am not a homeschooling parent and my son will be going to public school, there are two aspects of education I feel fall into my hands: teaching about evolution and raising an outdoor kid.