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Welcome to Texas Citizens for Science
"What Texas Schools Need is
a Moment of Science!"
Texas Citizens for Science was formed in 2003 to promote the use
of accurate science in Texas public education, government, and institutions. TCS is the
successor to the Texas Council for Science Education that was active during 1981-1994
in support of the same goals.
During its first year, TCS devoted its attention to reviewing biology textbooks that were
adopted by the Texas Education Agency in 2003 for Texas high schools, and defending their scientific
accuracy in public hearings before the Texas State Board of Education.
TCS will now begin to work in four new areas identified by the new navigation
menu choices listed above each page.
- First, health education books will be adopted by the Texas Education Agency in
2004. These books should discuss sex education, sexually-transmitted diseases,
contraception, use of prophylactics, birth control, abortion, homosexuality, and
the nature of modern marriage and families in a realistic, guilt-free, fear-free,
and scientifically-accurate manner. TCS will attempt to ensure that this actually
occurs (for the first time in Texas history).
- Second, an organization named the Texas Earth Science Task Force
has been working since 2002 to make it possible for high school students to
choose Earth Science or AP Environmental Science as one of their required high school
science courses, and ultimately add a fourth year of science to the required high school science
curriculum and graduation requirements. TCS has always supported the TESTF in their efforts
and will now begin to list Earth Science resources on a special TCS page. TCS President
Steven Schafersman is now a member of the TESTF.
- Third, Texas Governor Rick Perry recently appointed a Texas Energy Planning Council to
create a new Texas Energy Plan. TCS will monitor the TEPC's activities and provide
input to TEPC members to ensure that the energy policy the TEPC develops for oil, natural gas, coal,
and nuclear energy will be scientifically accurate, balanced, fair, and sustainable. Most importantly,
TCS will seek to ensure that renewable forms of energy (wind, solar, geothermal, biomass)
and energy conservation are not neglected in the TEPC's deliberations and as part of the
final Texas Energy Plan.
- Fourth, Republican Governor Rick Perry, Republicans in the Texas Legislature, and
Republicans on the State Board of Education are currently attempting to completely reform
the character of Texas public education in far-reaching ways. Teacher qualifications have
already been weakened so that new teachers are no longer required to have the usual Education School
pedagogical training. School financing will be significantly changed, perhaps in ways that
inhibit communities from raising property taxes to adequately support their local schools,
and some districts may not be as well funded as in the past. More ominously, Republicans hope
to add vouchers for religious and private schools, and hope to create virtual charter schools
to support home schooling at state expense. These new state-funded vouchers and virtual schools would
not be subject to the same curriculum and instructional requirements as the public schools.
Since religious schools and home schools almost all intentionally use curricula that distort
modern science in favor of non-scientific religious beliefs such as creationism, intelligent design,
flood geology, and a young Earth, some of these proposals will greatly damage reliable
science education in Texas. Since many thousands of Texas students--who now receive an adequate
if not exemplary science education--would find themselves subject to inferior faith-based
pseudoscientific instruction under the new Republican plan for Texas public schools, this issue
must be taken up by Texas Citizens for Science.
February 18, 2004: New Texas Textbook
Censorship Attempt! For more on the SBOE-TEA-Discovery Institute "Error Correction"
Controversy, please visit the Biology
Textbook Adoption page.
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Texas Citizens for Science requests donations from its members and
supporters to enable it to continue its work promoting the use of accurate science
in Texas public education and state government, and opposing radical right-wing extremists
who wish to damage science textbooks under consideration for adoption in Texas schools.
We need to continue speaking to members of the Texas State Board of Education and other
state government agencies to preserve scientific integrity in Texas. Please donate
to Texas Citizens for Science by mailing a check to TCS or clicking on the PayPal
button below.
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Texas Citizens for Science maintains an email list serve to keep
you informed about science education issues in Texas. This
is not a discussion list. You will not receive messages
from other list messages, nor can you send messages to the list.
It is a one way broadcast list for TCS to use to make
announcements on news-worthy issues and late-breaking news.
To sign up for the list
send
SUBSCRIBE TXNEWS "your email address here without the
quotes"
in the message body to
You will then receive a message to confirm your subscription.
This second step is necessary to prevent others from signing you
up to lists without your knowledge.
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