New Connecticut Law Requires State Schools to Teach Climate Change

What’s the story? 

• A new Connecticut law requires state public schools to include climate change in their curriculum. The Next Generation Science Standards was incorporated into the state’s budget implementer bill, mandating that lessons on human-caused climate change be integrated into science classes starting in July 2023. 
• The new lessons will give students a deeper understanding of how human activities have created changes in the climate and the adverse effects on various populations. Students will also learn about possible climate solutions and their costs, socio-environmental impacts, and credibility. 
• While 90% of Connecticut schools already have lessons on climate change, this mandate ensures that budget cuts or political views will not impact climate education, explained Rep. Christine Palm, Vice Chair of the Environment Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly. Palm added: 

“Climate science is often one of the first things, along with arts, to go when budgets are tight. A lot of poorer communities weren’t being taught this, and that’s really a travesty, because people of color and people in cities are more affected by climate change…For me, it was a matter of environmental justice.”

Climate miseducation in the U.S.

• In recent years, climate experts and advocates have brought attention to the public’s misunderstanding of climate change, mainly because politicians, corporations, and global leaders misrepresent the crisis. Classrooms have become a battleground over climate science and education. Some criticize schools for ignoring the crisis entirely, while others inaccurately portray the issue and its solutions. 
• A Columbia national survey found that science teachers in most middle and high schools devote one to two hours of climate change education each year, while 30% incorporate less than an hour of focus into their lessons. The Yale Program on Climate Change also noted the lack of recognition of scientific consensus across middle and high schools in the U.S., pointing to a overarching issue of scientific miseducation. 
• Many schools are not actively updating their curriculum with the newest scientific understanding of climate change. The National Center on Science Education reported that 30% of teachers tell their students that “many scientists” believe the climate is warming due to natural causes, which is an inaccurate representation of the common opinion. This antiquated viewpoint sends a mixed message to students that climate change is still debated in the scientific community. 
• Katie Worth, an investigative journalist and author of “Miseducation: How Climate Change Is Taught in America,” visited classrooms across the U.S. to examine climate education. Worth found that many students’ understanding of climate change was hindered by corporate and political influences. She highlighted the role that oil corporations and lobbyists play in manufacturing the public’s doubt in scientists and how this impacts climate solutions and education. Worth told The Revelator: 

“Education is by nature a very diverse enterprise in this country. There’s no national curriculum and we have 3 million teachers educating 50 million children enrolled in 100,000 public schools. Each of those teachers is teaching based on state standards,...expertise and their style.”

Public consensus on climate change

• A 2019 nationwide poll by NPR/Ipsos found that most Americans favor teaching kids about climate change. Nearly four out of five respondents, including two-thirds of Republicans and nine in ten Democrats, agreed that the subject should be taught in schools. 
• The Texas Education Agency surveyed science educators across the state to learn what they would like added to the standard, to which one in four asked for more climate change lessons. None asked for more content on fossil fuels. 
• A 2021 landmark study found that American youth have high levels of anxiety revolving around the climate crisis. Out of the 10,000 young people surveyed, aged 16-25 years, nearly 60% reported feeling “very worried” or “extremely worried” about climate change, with many feeling sad, angry, afraid, and powerless. Nearly half of the participants said these feelings impacted their daily lives. 
• These findings led experts to believe that giving students a chance to accurately grasp the concepts of climate change and learn about the various solutions will decrease this anxiety, make for a more hopeful generation, and encourage students to take action. The United Nations climate action page addresses this issue, stating: 

“In the classroom, young people can be taught the impact of global warming and learn how to adapt to climate change. Education empowers all people, but especially motivates the young to take action. Knowing the facts helps eliminate the fear of an issue which is frequently colored by doom and gloom in the public arena.”

How do you feel about Connecticut adding climate change to its standard curriculum? Should more states do the same? 

-Jamie Epstein

(Photo credit: iStock/Wavebreakmedia)