Half of the members of Michigan's state board of education would oppose the new proposed state social studies standards, which were revised to downplay climate change among other topics, according to a report from Bridge magazine (June 14, 2018).
The revisions that affect the treatment of climate change are primarily at the grade 6 level, where a reference to global climate change was removed, and at the grade 7 level, where a section on geography was largely deleted.
"I know the Democrats feel strongly and are concerned" about the proposed changes, board member Michelle Fecteau, a Democrat from Detroit, told Bridge, adding, "If there is a 4-4 split, it doesn't pass."
Casandra Ulbrich, a Democrat from Rochester Hills, explained that she and her three Democratic colleagues could move to amend the standards, or decline to vote on them, or vote them down and return them for further work.
The final decision will be taken by the state board of education. In the meantime, public comment on the standards (PDF) will be accepted at a series of public meetings around the state and also on-line until June 30, 2018.