There continues to be a high degree of support for climate change education in the Sunshine State's public schools, according to a new survey from Florida Atlantic University.
Presented with the proposition "Florida schools should teach the causes, consequences, and solutions to climate change in our K-12 classrooms," 71.3 percent of respondents strongly supported (37.3 percent) or supported (34 percent) it, with 19.6 percent neither supporting nor opposing it, and 9.2 percent opposing (5.9 percent) or strongly opposing (3.3 percent) it.
The latest wave of the Florida Climate Resilience Survey survey was conducted from September 1 to September 7, 2022, with an on-line panel of 1400 Floridians age 18 and older. "Responses for the entire sample were weighted to adjust for age, race, income, education and gender according to 2020 U.S. Bureau of the Census data." The margin of error for the whole sample was +/- 2.62 percent.
The 71.3 percent level of support for climate change education was comparable to the levels previously recorded in the four-year history of the survey; it is higher than the level assessed (PDF) by the Saint Leo University Polling Institute in 2020 (as NCSE previously reported), 67.8 percent, but lower than the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication's estimate in 2021, 78 percent.
Florida's science standards received a D for their treatment of climate change in the "Making the Grade?" report from NCSE and the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund.
