To: New Jersey State Board of Education
New Jersey State Board of Education: Teach our kids climate science!
Adopt Next Generation Science Standards that include climate education!
Why is this important?
Some ideas shouldn’t be up for debate. The earth travels around the sun. What goes up must come down. Climate change is happening.
If this sounds uncontroversial, that’s because it is. The truth of human-caused climate change is backed by resounding scientific consensus supported by data gathered from decades of rigorous, peer-reviewed research. But a loud and well-funded fringe have gone to war against our children’s right to learn about climate change.
They’ve launched coordinated attacks in each state that has considered adopting Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a set of education standards meant to ensure that kids learn 21st century science, including climate science. Worse, they’ve won some battles: in April, for instance, Wyoming became the first state to block NGSS.
Now the fight for climate science education has come to New Jersey. The New Jersey State Board of Education is scheduled to vote on science education standards during its meeting on July 9. When Michael Heinz, the science coordinator for the NJ Department of Education, was asked whether there were any obstacles to adopting NGSS, his reply was clear: "External political influence that has an issue with human-induced climate change or evolution," he said. "Those are really the only two things."
We must keep that from happening. With superstorms, flooding, sea-level rise, and other climate change impacts intesifying, our children must have the tools to understand, analyze, and formulate solutions to deal with a rapidly changing climate.
That’s why it’s important that you, along with other New Jerseyeans and allies from around the nation, speak up now. Let's make sure that the Board of Education hears from parents, grandparents and other supporters of climate science education loudly and clearly before they vote this month. Tell them to vote to adopt Next Generation Science Standards that include climate science education.
If this sounds uncontroversial, that’s because it is. The truth of human-caused climate change is backed by resounding scientific consensus supported by data gathered from decades of rigorous, peer-reviewed research. But a loud and well-funded fringe have gone to war against our children’s right to learn about climate change.
They’ve launched coordinated attacks in each state that has considered adopting Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a set of education standards meant to ensure that kids learn 21st century science, including climate science. Worse, they’ve won some battles: in April, for instance, Wyoming became the first state to block NGSS.
Now the fight for climate science education has come to New Jersey. The New Jersey State Board of Education is scheduled to vote on science education standards during its meeting on July 9. When Michael Heinz, the science coordinator for the NJ Department of Education, was asked whether there were any obstacles to adopting NGSS, his reply was clear: "External political influence that has an issue with human-induced climate change or evolution," he said. "Those are really the only two things."
We must keep that from happening. With superstorms, flooding, sea-level rise, and other climate change impacts intesifying, our children must have the tools to understand, analyze, and formulate solutions to deal with a rapidly changing climate.
That’s why it’s important that you, along with other New Jerseyeans and allies from around the nation, speak up now. Let's make sure that the Board of Education hears from parents, grandparents and other supporters of climate science education loudly and clearly before they vote this month. Tell them to vote to adopt Next Generation Science Standards that include climate science education.