Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash.
The Texas state board of education gave its final approval to a revised set of state science standards for high school biology, chemistry, physics, and integrated physics and chemistry — classes taken by the majority of Texas public high school students — at its meeting on November 20, 2020.
As part of the revision, two references to climate change were added to the biology and integrated physics and chemistry standards. A majority of those testifying on November 17, 2020, urged the board to further improve the limited treatment of climate change in the science standards, but to no avail.
In a November 20, 2020, press release, Texas Freedom Network President Val Benavidez commented, "the board — at times echoing the arguments of climate deniers — refused to make learning about human-caused climate change, ... a global emergency today's students will inherit, a major focus in the standards."
Texas was one of just six states to receive the grade of F for the treatment of climate change in its state science standards in "Making the Grade? How State Public School Science Standards Address Climate Change," a recent report issued by NCSE and the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund.
