No lightning rods here

Unlike the white-knuckle ride over the state's new science standards, the comment period for the proposed new social studies standards has been smooth sailing. The deadline for comments is today.

Through Monday, about 7,000 comments had been submitted to the Department of Education, which pales next to the nearly 21,000 inspired by the evolution-embracing science standards. To read them, click here and here (there's one spreadsheet for the standards and one for the benchmarks.)

We confess. We only scanned them. But one comment caught our eye: "Every grade level should have Florida Studies!!!" (Would it shatter the Gradebook's objectivity to say we agree?)

The committee that wrote the standards meets again July 24-26. The final product will be presented to the state Board of Education in October.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter