Proposed CA Legislation Would Mandate Climate Change Indoctrination in Public Schools
Proposed CA Legislation Would Mandate Climate Change Indoctrination in Public Schools
Experts call the bill “dangerous” and “an effort to brainwash kids.”
By Sara Dogan
Parents and concerned citizens are crying “indoctrination” over a bill recently introduced in the California State Assembly which would make teaching about climate change mandatory in all California public schools.
The legislation, Assembly Bill 1922, was introduced by Democratic assemblywoman Luz Rivas, who represents District 39 in Southern California. The bill would amend the California Education Code to mandate that science education for both grades 1-6 and grades 7-12 include instruction on “the causes and effects of climate change.” The bill adds, “Appropriate coursework including material on the causes and effects of climate change shall be offered to pupils as soon as possible, commencing no later than the 2021–22 school year.”
From Rivas’s comments on the issue, it is clear that she takes a radical approach to the supposed threat of climate change.
“Climate change needs to be a part of our day-to-day academic discussion. This past decade has already started with extreme climate incidents occurring across the globe. As the youth that will inherit the brunt of climate change effects, we need them to be a part of the solution,” Assemblywoman Rivas stated in a press release. “AB 1922 will educate, help prepare, and give our next generation the tools to shape their futures in the wake of our current climate crisis.”
The assemblywoman also invoked teen climate activist Greta Thunberg. “Greta Thunberg, the 17-year-old activist, ushered in a new energy to the climate movement. Our youth are ready to join the solution,” Rivas added. “As our federal government takes a step back from environmental protection, California and our children are stepping in.”
But many question whether the bill would truly enhance students’ scientific understanding or just serve as a mechanism to push students toward radical climate activism.
“Back in the late 1990s, the California science content standards were carefully designed to teach students the science so that they could understand and evaluate rival global warming claims,” explained Bill Evers, a senior fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, California, in an interview with The College Fix. “Policy conclusions were not to be taught. Now California legislators want to require that students be indoctrinated in such conclusions and turned into advocates and activists.”
Dr. James Enstrom, an epidemiologist and researcher at UCLA, called the bill “dangerous” and “an effort to brainwash the kids.”
And Adam Houser, a staffer at the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, argued that “this bill will only teach students a biased, one-sided view on the climate change issue: that the world is ending in 10 to 30 years because of human-made CO2.”
Houser also questioned whether the science behind Democrats’ radical plans to halt climate change is sound. “There’s a whole lot more to the story, and research from scientists like Dr. Roy Spencer, Dr. Judith Curry, Dr. William Happer, Dr. Richard Lindzen, and Dr. David Legates, who question how much of climate change is really driven by CO2 from human activity, should have just as much of a say in the curriculum as climate alarmist studies,” he told The College Fix.
Assemblywoman Rivas so far has not responded publicly to the criticisms of her bill.