Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Photo by Demure Storyteller on Unsplash.
Virginia's House Bill 1037, which would, if enacted, require the state board of education to aid local school boards with instructional materials on climate change and environmental literacy, passed the Senate on 21-19 vote on March 2, 2026.
Specifically, the bill would require the board to "make available to each local school board instructional materials on climate change and environmental literacy that are based on and include peer-reviewed scientific sources" and also to "develop, adopt, and make available to each model school board model policies and procedures ... pertaining to the selection of instructional materials on climate change and environmental literacy."
The bill now proceeds to the desk of Governor Abigail Spanberger (D). In 2024, the identical House Bill 1088 passed the legislature but was then vetoed by then-Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) on April 2, 2024, as NCSE previously reported.
