Are Florida’s Proposed Science Standards Another Step Toward Classical Education for All?
As science educators review Florida’s proposed standards, another question deserves attention: Are we witnessing a continuing shift in the philosophy guiding our public schools?
Florida’s science standards were long overdue for revision. Science educators are doing exactly what we should expect them to do: carefully reviewing the proposed standards, identifying weaknesses, and providing feedback to the Department of Education to ensure that Florida students receive a rigorous, scientifically sound education.
That work is essential. But while educators debate the content of individual benchmarks, I think another question deserves attention.
At Wednesday’s State Board of Education meeting, Commissioner Henry Mack and Vice Chair MaryLynn Magar discussed scientism—the philosophical belief that science is the only legitimate path to knowledge. Mack argued that science should not be elevated above other forms of inquiry, including philosophy, history, and religion.
Some have interpreted this language as raising concerns about introducing religious doctrine into public school science instruction. But I wonder whether we should be looking at the bigger picture.
Could Mack’s philosophical framing of the science standards represent another step toward making classical education the guiding model for all Florida public schools, rather than simply another educational choice available to families?
Consider the direction Florida has been moving.
Former Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran (2018–2022) championed classical education. In a 2021 speech at Hillsdale College, Corcoran described education as the battleground on which the larger political and cultural struggle between conservatives and liberals would be decided, declaring, “The war will be won in education.”
He now leads New College of Florida, an existing public institution that state leaders sought to transform into a “Hillsdale of the South.”
Byron and Erika Donalds have longstanding connections to Hillsdale-affiliated classical charter schools. Florida has embraced the Classic Learning Test, established a specialized teaching certificate for classical schools, and encouraged the growth of classical education.
Then, in November 2025, the State Board of Education unanimously adopted the Heritage Foundation’s Phoenix Declaration as guiding principles for Florida education. During that meeting, then-Vice Chair Esther Byrd expressed her hope that classical education would eventually become the model throughout Florida’s public school system.
There is also an explicitly political dimension to this movement.
Classical education is not simply an educational philosophy being discussed by state officials. It is also part of a policy agenda promoted and measured by a major conservative policy organization.
The Heritage Foundation’s Education Freedom Report Card rewards states for expanding classical education, including measuring the number of classical schools per capita and whether states accept the Classic Learning Test.
None of this establishes that Hillsdale or Heritage influenced the writing of Florida’s new science standards, or that the revisions were designed to advance their agenda.
But the larger pattern is worth examining.
Commissioner Mack is an outspoken proponent of classical education. His references to reason, virtue, the natural order, and the limits of science reflect philosophical themes prominent in classical educational discourse.
And while classical education is not inherently incompatible with sound science instruction, it represents a particular educational philosophy—one that influential conservative policymakers have been working to expand.
There is a fundamental difference between offering classical education as a choice for interested families and gradually making it the philosophical foundation of every public school.
So, as science educators continue their important work examining the proposed standards, perhaps the rest of us should be asking a different question:
Are these revisions simply an overdue update to Florida’s science standards, or might they be another step along a much longer path toward classical education for all?
An Opportunity to Ask
Commissioner Mack has invited Floridians to participate in an upcoming science standards listening session in Orlando, saying he welcomes a free-flowing dialogue about the future of science education.
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
5:30–7:30 p.m.
Lake Buena Vista High School
11305 Daryl Carter Parkway
Orlando, Florida 32836
The proposed standards and public input information are available on the Florida Department of Education’s Standards Review website.