To: West Virginia Board of Education
Tell the WV Board of Ed to fix bad climate science standards!
West Virginia kids deserve to learn the scientific facts about climate change as part of a 21st-century science education. Please correct all inaccurate and misleading information about climate change in new science standards for K-12 students in West Virginia. Replace altered climate content with the original peer-reviewed climate science standards written by scientists and science educators.
Why is this important?
The West Virginia Board of Education just voted to adopt K-12 science standards that include inaccurate and misleading content about climate change.
At the request of Board member Wade Linger–who denies the fact that global temperatures are rising–the Department of Education rewrote the climate science sections of the Next Generation Science Standards (1) (2).
The doctored standards contain blatant errors and misrepresent the scientific consensus on climate change. For example, Linger had the standard on factors affecting rising temperatures changed to now consider “the rise ‘and fall’ of global temperatures.” The change was made as data was coming in showing 2014 to be the hottest year in recorded history, and the 38th consecutive year that yearly global temperatures were above average (3).
Another Board of Education member, Tom Campbell, is on record saying that he supports changing the science standards in consideration of the role of the coal industry in the West Virginia economy (4).
As a citizen of West Virginia and as a father, it is important to me to see our children receive the best education possible. Science education should be free from political agendas or from misinformation resulting from such agendas. Our children should be taught the truth and to think critically, built upon a foundation of accurate science.
The new standards will be taught in West Virginia starting next year, so there is still time for the Board to fix its climate education errors. Please join me in telling the Board of Education to correct all inaccurate and misleading climate science content in the state’s new science standards.
Thank you for taking action for our children and grandchildren!
Sincerely,
Chris Clark, Father and Climate Parents member
Charleston, WV
(1) "Climate change denials added to West Virginia science standards to appease coal loving officials." Raw Story. http://bit.ly/1zY2deh
(2) West Virginia Department of the Environment. New science standards. http://bit.ly/1Dr5Dwt
(3) NOAA. National Climatic Data Center. http://1.usa.gov/1f58TjF
(4) "Climate change learning standards for W.Va. students altered." Charleston Gazette. http://bit.ly/1zMTVKV