Thanks, Minnesota. Thanks a bunch.

Via Pharyngula, I see that Florida gets the lovely Cheri Yecke as the new K-12 Chancellor. This is not a good omen for education in the state. You see, Cheri Yecke wishes to 'avoid' the controversy of evolution, or, barring that, allow school boards to introduce 'alternative' theories. She is, simply, another face of the creationist-id movement. Interesting that Florida hired her despite not being retained by Minnesota, due in part to the controversy of her 'leadership.' One wonders if the fact that science standards are up for review next year has anything to do with her hiring.
The good chancellor is not only bad news for science, however; she has also been known to stick her finger into the history pie. For example, she has argued that history standards should not refer to the 'genocide' of Native Americans; rather, she has put forward the notion that it was all one big misunderstanding, an accident really. A committee she organized and led to push new history standards was not really in favor of alternative viewpoints. From the Organization of American Historians, we get a nice glimpse into the inner thinking of Yecke's committee:

For example, in a discussion of the kindergarten Civics standard describing the “virtues of good citizens,” the subcommittee decided to omit “sharing and cooperation” because these were too “socialist.” At another meeting, the subcommittee agreed that it would be inappropriate to teach middle school students about the economics of slavery, because the knowledge that human beings were bought and sold as merchandise might “prejudice the students against a free market economy.” In response to a critique that urged the inclusion of protest songs (“We Shall Overcome,” “This Land is Your Land”) as well as patriotic songs (“American the Beautiful,” “God Bless America”), one committee member even suggested that they list the controversial Confederate anthem “Dixie” as the sole example. In response to another critique noting the absence of organized labor from both the U.S. History and the Economics standards, a different committee member sputtered, “unions! Don’t even go there!” In general, they were only interested in those facts and interpretations that reinforced a triumphalist view of the United States and glorified individualism, as they grudgingly corrected some of the most evident errors and addressed a few of the most conspicuous omissions.

Oh yes, this is most definitely a good sign. What a joke. I shudder for the status of public education in this state in 10 years. It won't be pretty.
(Crossposted by Bostondreamer at Floridablues)