Direct link to article... [littlegreenfootballs.com]
If you live in a state where one party dominates you are much more likely to end up with legislation that voters don't like and political theater dominating the agenda. I know, I'm from Kansas where theocrats rule the state.
On Wednesday, a Kentucky review committee voted down the state's plan to incorporate new federal science education guidelines into its curriculum. But Kentucky's governor is making sure the committee doesn't get the last word on science education in his state.
Gov. Steve Beshear (D) said Wednesday that he plans to implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) "under his own authority," despite the Kentucky legislature's Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee's 5-1 decision that the standards are deficient. The governor's announcement will ensure the standards will move forward for the time being -- they could still be killed by Kentucky's general assembly when it returns in January, but the governor would then have the option to veto that decision.
Kentucky's path to implement the NGSS -- which are voluntary guidelines that, if adopted by states, provide standards for science education that include the teaching of climate science and evolution -- has been a rocky one. The state Board of Education approved the standards this June, but since then, the state's Tea Party along with religious and family-based groups have lobbied hard against the adoption of the rules -- lobbying that Robert Bevins, president of Kentuckians for Science Education, a group that supports the NGSS, said resulted in the subcommittee's vote against the standards.
More: Kentucky Governor Stands Up to Climate Deniers, Defends Teaching Science in Schools