Group Plans Lawsuit Over Florida Textbook Adoption Changes
August 11, 2011
A Boca Raton group that believes some Florida textbooks are slanted to favor Islamic beliefs plans to file a lawsuit against the state of Florida and Gov. Rick Scott for approving a new law that changes the state’s textbook adoption process.
Citizens for National Security will file its lawsuit Thursday in a Palm Beach County circuit court, saying the new law violates the state constitution’s promise of a “high-quality” education.
The dramatic changes to the textbook adoption process contained in SB 2120, a new state law tied to the education budget, eliminated the use of large statewide committees of public school teachers, administrators, school board members and private citizens to review textbooks.
Instead, the education commissioner hand-picks three state or national “subject matter experts” to examine the books, with only two people reviewing the books and the third acting as a tie-breaker.
“It is not possible for two people to review all the textbooks in Florida within a 4 month period of time,” the complaint says. “Prior to the passage of SB 2120, the selection/adoption process for history and geography textbooks required the reviews of more than 40 people, and took approximately one year to complete.”
Citizens for National Security Chairman William Saxton said his group believes the new law removes a valuable form of oversight from the textbook selection process.
“We need to have the new law repealed because what the new law does is totally disenfranchise the public from having any role in the selection of K-12 public textbooks,” Saxton said. “In the old law it wasn’t a significant role, but it was a role. There was oversight.”
Barry Silver, an attorney representing Citizens for National Security and a former Democratic state representative, said changing the textbook adoption policies opens the window to religious indoctrination of children.
He called textbook selection a “monumental undertaking” and the suggestion that three people could handle this task is “absolutely ridiculous” because it is so time-consuming.
“We need more people, not less, engaged in that task,” Silver said.
Saxton said his group has helped conduct a review of existing textbooks and found that some “embrace or embellish” Islamic values over Judeo-Christian values. Saxton said he believes through lobbying textbook adoption committees and textbook publishers, Islamic groups have gotten their point of view into textbooks.
“It’s another form of jihad,” Saxton said, with “hearts and minds of children” the target.
He said these concerns were brought to the Department of Education and Scott prior to his signing the bill.
Scott has become a popular target for lawsuits and this marks at least the eighth time he has been sued since taking office.
“This isn’t the first time Gov. Scott has been inappropriately added to a lawsuit where he’s not a proper defendant. It’s all just a ploy to get a splash in the media and any good lawyer would know better,” said Scott spokesman Lane Wright.
School districts can appoint a teacher or district curriculum specialist to review the recommendations by the reviewers. Ultimately, school districts must spend 50 percent of their textbook budgets on state-approved books.
In May, the Department of Education explained the change as a way of curing some problems with the existing adoption process. Mary Jane Tappen, who is in charge of curriculum for the department, said it had become difficult to find people to sit on the committees since it is a huge undertaking.
“We felt like going to a review process where first experts review the content to ensure it is error-free and factual, followed by every district in the state participating in a second review,” Tappen said.
The Department of Education said it has yet to select new textbook reviewers under the new law.
“We’re still in the process of getting volunteer experts from the universities, state colleges, national organizations other state agency social studies program specialists and private university systems,” said department spokeswoman Cheryl Etters. The next textbooks up for adoption are K-12 social studies books.
It’s not just groups like Citizens for National Security that are concerned about the new adoption process.
Teachers and school board members who had previously sat on the statewide adoption committees also sounded alarms earlier this year when the Legislature first passed the bill that made the changes.
“We are going to see what happened in Texas, with curriculum being challenged and changed,” said April Griffin, a school board member from Hillsborough County Schools, in a May interview with the News Service of Florida. “We are going to see favoritism for certain companies. I think we are going to lose the voice of the front lines in this process.”
By The News Service of Florida
Afternoon Fire Destroys Abandoned Mobile Home
August 10, 2011
Fire destroyed an abandoned double wide mobile home this afternoon between Davisville and Nokomis.
The home had already burned to the ground by the time the first firefighters arrived on Miller Road east of Rockaway Creek Road, just south of the Alabama-Florida line. Firefighters said the home had no power, no gas and there was no obvious source of ignition. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
There were no injuries reported in the blaze, which happened about 2:15 p.m.
The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Atmore Fire Department responded to the blaze.
Pictured above: Fire destroyed this abandoned double wide mobile home on Miller Road Wednesday afternoon. Pictured below: Fire burns on the last wall standing in the structure. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Deputies Seek Help In Identifying Vehicle Related To Funeral Service Burglaries
August 10, 2011
Santa Rosa County investigators are seeking the public’s help in identifying and locating a vehicle that may have been involved in vehicle burglaries during a graveside funeral service last weekend.
The incident happened Saturday during a funeral service at Serenity Gardens Cemetery in Milton. When deputies arrived, they found that five vehicle burglaries had occurred while the owners were attending the funeral service only about 50 yards away.
Now deputies are working to identify a late model grayish green four-door Mazda Tribute with a Georgia tag seen at the Circle K at Dogwood Drive and Willard Norris Road in Milton shortly after the funeral service burglaries. The SUV was caught on camera as a credit card was used that was stolen during the burglary. Investigators need to speak with the individual in order to further the investigation.
Editor’s note: Earlier Wednesday, deputies were looking for the white pickup seen in the photos above. The truck was located and was not part of the incident.
Anyone with information concerning the burglaries is asked to contact Santa Rosa County Crime Stoppers at (850) 437-STOP or www.srccs.com.
For an earlier NorthEscambia.com story with more information about the vehicle burglaries during a nearby graveside service, click here.
Atmore Man Charged With Attempted Murder After Victim Found In Road
August 10, 2011
An Atmore man is charged with attempted murder after a man was found severely injured and bleeding in a local roadway.
The man was found lying on Airport Road near Atmore Saturday night with severe head trauma and multiple abrasions. Investigators were able to take a brief statement from the man, whose identity has not been released, before he was airlifted to a Pensacola hospital where he remains in critical condition.
Derek Coleman, 21, was later taken into custody and charged with attempted murder. He is being held in the Escambia County Detention Center in Brewton on the attempted murder charge with bond set at $50,000.
Investigators are not saying exactly what happened — if the man was beaten and left in the roadway or if a vehicle was involved in the incident. The incident was investigated by the Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Office, Atmore Police Department and Alabama State Troopers.
McDavid Man Gets 2.5 Years In Prison For DUI
August 10, 2011
A McDavid man with a long history of alcoh0l-related driving convictions has been sentenced to two and a half years in state prison after a Molino DUI arrest.
It took an Escambia County jury just 25 minutes to find 31-year old Michael Aaron Killam guilty of his fourth or subsequent DUI.
Judge Michael Allen sentenced Killam to 30 months in state prison to be followed by 30 months probation and ordered him to pay $2,786 in court costs and fines. He was also ordered not to consume alcohol or be in any vehicle or residence with alcohol, and once released from prison any vehicle he drives must have an ignition interlock to test for alcohol consumption. Killam remains in the Escambia County Jail while his attorney has filed motions seeking to modify the sentence.
Several stations of Escambia Fire Rescue were dispatched to a possible accident on Highway 97 near Molino Park Elementary School about 5:40 a.m. on July 18, 2010. Rather than an accident, they found Killam apparently passed out or asleep behind the wheel of a Nissan Frontier truck in the ditch alongside the roadway.
Killam was arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol after he failed a field sobriety test.
Killam was arrested in late May, 2009 for driving under the influence, driving while his license was suspended, resisting arrest without violence and for threatening a deputy and his family. He was also issued traffic citations for an open container of alcohol and failure to drive in a single lane.
Escambia County deputy James Gilman was on Pine Barren Road the morning of May 20, 2009, at a brush fire when Killam made a u-turn in the roadway to avoid approaching Gilman’s patrol car and fire trucks. He sped away, prompting Gilman to follow. After observing Killam cross the yellow center and side white lines of the highway several times, Gilman initiated a traffic stop on Highway 164, according to Sheriff’s Office records.
That’s when Gilman said Killam headed for the passenger seat, reaching into the floorboard. After Killam was removed from the vehicle, he refused a field sobriety test and stated that his license was already suspended for DUI.
Killam was found guilty and sentenced to community control for 12 months, 24 months probation, 90 days in jail and community service. He was also ordered to avoid the possession or consumption of alcohol, ordered to use an ignition interlock system to test for the presence of alcohol before driving, and his driver’s license was revoked for 10 years.
Escambia County Court records show the following arrests or convictions for Killam:
- DUI, third conviction within 10 years after prior conviction
- Driving with license suspended
- Threatening a public servant
- Resisting arrest without violence
- Driving with license suspended, third or subsequent conviction
- Open container of alcohol in vehicle
- Failure to drive in a single lane
- Open container of alcohol in vehicle
- Trespassing
- DUI, third conviction within 10 years
- Refusal to submit to DUI test
- Driving with license suspended, second conviction
- DUI property damage, second offense
- Refusal to submit to DUI test
- Driving with license suspended
- Open container of alcohol in vehicle
- Failure to display registration
- Careless driving
- DUI property damage
- failure to leave info at accident
- Unlawful speed
- Careless driving
Pictured top: Michael Aaron Killam of McDavid is given a field sobriety test during the early morning hours of July 18, 2010, along Highway 97 in Molino. Pictured below: Killam is taken into custody. Pictured inset: A Florida Highway Patrol trooper pours out an apparent container of beer found in Killam’s truck. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Search Still On For ZTR Mower Thief
August 10, 2011
The Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Office is still asking for the public’s help in locating three high-value lawn mowers and arresting those responsible for stealing them.
Three John Deere Z-700 series zero-turn-radius mowers (similar to the photo) were stolen from Smith Tractor Company in Atmore sometime overnight June 29, according to Bruce Shue, an investigator for the Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Office. The mowers, he said, are valued at about $20,000 total.
Due to a previous article, deputies learned that the mowers were loaded from the outside of the building into a 26-foot U-haul. Otherwise, investigators have developed few clues.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to contact the Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Office at (251) 368-4779 or (251) 867-0304. Smith Tractor Company is offering a $500 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the theft.
Fight Is On Again To Repeal Mandatory Septic Tank Inspection Law
August 10, 2011
A new bill has been filed to permanently flush Florida’s septic tank inspections off the law books. The law, which went into effect July 1, has not led to state mandated inspections because the Department of Health is not allowed to spend a dime on the inspection program without the go ahead from a legislative committee.
Rep. Marti Coley of Marianna filed a bill this this week aimed at dramatically scaling back the law that calls for septic tanks to be inspected every five years and that makes owners responsible for repairs. Similar proposals died at the end of the 2011 legislative session.
The inspections law, which was approved in 2010, has become a controversial issue, particularly among legislators who represent largely rural districts. Also, it would eliminate a grant funding that is slated to take effect in 2012.
Backers of the law said it was necessary to protect springs and other waterways from pollution, but opponents argued it would drive up costs for homeowners. Opponents believe that tests — the financial responsibility of the property owner — could cost up to $500 for each of Florida’s 2.6 million septic tanks.
The News Service Florida contributed to this report.
New Partnership Saves SightLine Reading Service
August 10, 2011
A new partnership has been announced that will save the SightLine daily reading service for the visual impaired.
WSRE, Pensacola State College’s public television station, recently announced that the service was discontinued as a result of the elimination of state funding for public broadcasting.
UWF Public Media, the public radio station and public access channel licensed to the University of West Florida, approached WSRE with a suggestion – relocate the reading service and coordinating responsibilities to WUWF 88.1 FM but, continue to use WSRE’s SAP (Second Audio Program) channel — an audio channel for TV that broadcasts over the air and over cable TV — to deliver the service, just as it has for the last 19 years.
This is a great opportunity for us to work with our public television colleagues in continuing an important community service,” said Pat Crawford, WUWF executive director. “Long-time listeners to SightLine will still be able to hear it on the WSRE SAP channel, but we are adding an additional digital radio broadcast channel (WUWF HD-3) dedicated to the reading service and will be streaming the service online at http://wuwf.org , where local SightLine segments featuring the reading of newspapers, periodicals, and books will continue to be available on demand. WUWF will also be adding some new programs. With WSRE’s proven delivery system and WUWF’s access to additional content, it’s a perfect match.”
One new program that will be added to the SightLine lineup is The Radio Reader with Dick Estell, a highly acclaimed daily half-hour public radio program, featuring the reading of newly published books. On the air since 1962, regular listeners to WUWF 88.1FM may find themselves tuning in for each installment on the HD-3 channel. Other public radio programs will be added to the SightLine schedule as well, providing a 24 hour a day service to vision-impaired.
“We are grateful for this partnership with WUWF Public Media to continue and bring new life to the SightLine Reading Service,” stated Sandy Cesaretti Ray, WSRE general manager. “We did not want to see the 19 year service end. This kind of collaboration is a win-win for all involved,” said Ray.
Photos: Century Care Center Clowns Around
August 10, 2011
There was a lot of clowning around caught on camera recently among the normally professional staff at Century Care Center.
The residents and staff celebrated National Be a Clown Day with a special visit from Lady Butterfly — also known as Faye Gandy, the daughter of a former Century Care Center resident. She painted faces, created balloon art for the residents and just generally clowned around.
Pictured top: Century Care Center residents recently enjoyed National Be a Clown Day. Pictured inset. Faye “Lady Butterfly” Gandy creates balloon art for the residents. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia Man Gets 30 Years In Sexual Battery Case
August 10, 2011
An Escambia County man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in a sexual battery case that left a 16-year old girl pregnant.
Paul Cornelius Boatman, Sr., was convicted of sexual battery while in the position of familial or custodial authority by an Escambia County Jury. Following the verdict, Judge Jan Shackelford sentenced the 54-year old Boatman to 30 years state prison and designated him as a sexual predator.
Between March and April 2010, Boatman committed sexual battery upon the victim on multiple occasions in their home. At the time of the incident, the victim was 16 and became pregnant as a result.