West Virginia's board of education is to reconsider its decision to undermine the treatment of climate science in its new state science standards at its January 14, 2015, meeting, according to The New York Times (January 13, 2015).
As NCSE previously reported, before the Next Generation Science Standards were offered for public comment in the state, Wade Linger, a member of the state board of education, asked for changes to downplay the scientific consensus on climate change. The compromised standards were then adopted in December 2014.
In a January 8, 2015, statement, the West Virginia Science Teachers Association complained that the board's unilateral revisions compromised the scientific integrity of the standards "specifically by casting doubt on the credibility of the evidence-based climate models and misrepresentation of trends in science when analyzing graphs dealing with temperature changes over time."
NCSE's Minda Berbeco told the Times that the board was "changing the composition of the science to match their own personal views," explaining, "That defeats the purpose of having standards developed by scientific advisory boards." (The NGSS are based on a framework devised by the National Research Council.)
Amy Hessl, a professor of geography at West Virginia University who studies climate change, indicated that the board's changes were misguided, and compared the idea that the board's changes brought balance to the standards with the idea of "bringing someone into the classroom who says smoking is actually good for your health."
According to the Times, "the board could decide to go back to the original language of the curriculum, to do nothing or to drop the new standards altogether" at its January 14, 2015, meeting. Information about taking action is available at NCSE's website.