Stopping 21st century science education because of climate denial harms West Virginia students
Parents, science teachers and science education supporters across West Virginia are condemning last week’s vote by the West Virginia House of Delegates to block new, high quality K-12 science standards in order to stop students from examining the evidence about climate change.
The House of Delegates voted on Friday, February 26 for an education bill, HB 4014, that includes language stopping implementation of the “Next Generation Standards and Objectives for Science in West Virginia Schools” for at least a year. A leading advocate for the anti-science education provision, Delegate Frank Deem, said “there’s nothing that upsets me more than the idea that it’s a proven fact that climate change is man made.” Deem also said he doesn’t want “our children to be taught how bad fossil fuels are.” (1)
“Parents have high aspirations for our children’s education, and that includes a quality science education that include the facts about climate change” said Lisa Hoyos, Director and Co-Founder Climate Parents, a national organization that supports climate science education. She added, “Blocking 21st century science education because of climate denial sets West Virginia students back.”
Climate Parents is circulating a petition calling on the West Virginia Senate to remove the anti-science education language from HB 4014. Facebook posts have been widely shared and commented on in West Virginia.
The new West Virginia science standards were adopted by the West Virginia Board of Education last spring to replace old, outdated standards. (2) Thousands of parents signed a petition in support of the new standards, and in particular against weakening of the climate change content. The new standards–written by and for science educators–are strongly supported by the West Virginia Science Teachers Association and science professors in colleges and universities across the state.
The new science standards contain a total of three climate objectives for students in grades 6-12–one of which is a high school environmental science elective–out of a total of 579 learning objectives (3). In other words, to stop one half of one percent of K-12 science education instruction, West Virginia legislators would block access to all of it. If the anti-science education provision is passed into law, West Virginia students will not only be denied instruction about climate change, they will be
denied access to up to date standards covering all science subjects.
The bill will next be taken up by the West Virginia Senate Education Committee.
(1) Language blocking science standards back in bill. Charleston Gazette-Mail, 2.25.16
(2) View the “Next Generation Standards and Objectives for Science in West Virginia Schools” here.
(3) Here is the text of the 3 (out of 579) K-12 science education objectives pertaining to climate change:
6th grade: Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused a change in global temperatures over the last century.
9th grade: Analyze geoscience data and the results from the global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.
High School (environmental science elective): Debate climate change as it relates to natural forces, greenhouse gases, human changes in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, and relevant laws and treaties.
