The Public Education Department is proposing to make language on climate change and evolution less specific in New Mexico’s classrooms.
The state held its only public hearing on the controversial changes to science standards Monday morning.
PED is considering changing the phrase “rise in global temperatures” to “fluctuations” in temperature and replacing the word “evolution” with “biological diversity,” among other things.
PED says this would give teachers more flexibility. But the proposals have come under fire from top scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory and major New Mexico school districts, who say they run counter to established science.
Some parents and students have protested the changes too.
"I’m just very disappointed in the state of New Mexico," said Quentin Gaul, a student at Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School in Albuquerque who was at Monday’s public hearing. "As a student, I feel like they don’t actually care if I get a good education. They just seem to be avoiding talking about controversial issues, even though they shouldn’t be controversial issues."
PED hasn’t said when it will decide whether to adopt the new standards.
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KUNM's Public Health New Mexico Project is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the McCune Charitable Foundation. Find more at www.publichealthnm.org.
