Photo by Denys Kostyuchenko on Unsplash.
A new poll (PDF) from the Saint Leo University Polling Institute shows that the level of public support in the Sunshine State for teaching climate change in the state's public schools continues to be high.
Presented with "Climate change should be taught as accepted theory in public primary and secondary schools," 67.8 percent of Floridian respondents strongly or somewhat agreed — comparable to 2020, when 70.4 percent agreed, and 2019, when 65.2 percent agreed.
As recently as 2019, there were bills in the Florida legislature that threatened the integrity of science education by calling for "balance" in state science standards and instructional materials with regard to "controversial issues" — evidently including climate change as well as evolution.
The Florida portion of the poll was conducted on-line from February 7 to 14, 2021, among 500 people in a large online panel. According to the institute, "A sample of 500 Florida respondents has an associated margin for error of +/- 4.5% at a 95 percent confidence level."
