Texas Board of Education Weakens Guidelines Surrounding Climate Education

On March 16, 2023, Scientific American reported that the Texas Board of Education made changes to their operating rules that would inhibit climate education. The new guidelines mandate that Texas schools “present positive aspects of the United States and Texas and its heritage and abundant natural resources, recognize the ongoing process of scientific discovery and change over time in the natural world, and present factual information, avoid bias, and encourage discussion.” The board member who proposed these changes, Patricia Hardley, says this language would reduce bias by presenting “both sides” of climate science, but critics, like  Carisa Lopez of the Texas Freedom Network, say language like this could “deter school districts from using textbooks that teach about climate change in a meaningful way.” It could steer schools towards science climate curricula that refrains from criticizing fossil fuel companies and gives weight to the debunked argument that climate change is largely the result of natural cycles instead of human activity.

Even though the state board’s operating rules do not carry legal weight, these changes will have a profound impact on schools. Schools that teach about the realities of climate change could “face challenges from parents who point to the operating rules and argue that teaching climate science is a form of political indoctrination,” according Lopez.

A Texas State Board of Education member who opposed the changes, Rebecca Bell-Metereau, says this decision will have national implications. Because Texas’s student population is so large, textbook publishers “pay close attention to Texas standards,” she says. This board decision would encourage publishers to present climate change as a contested theory. 

The Texas Board of Education declined requests to comment.