New Mexico Officials Back Down, Abandon Effort to Politicize Science Education Standards

The state tried to remove global warming, evolution, and the age of the Earth from its curriculum.

lisegagne/Getty Images

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

The controversy over an attempt by New Mexico’s education agency to scrub evolution, global warming, and even the age of the Earth from the state’s new science standards appears to have reached its end.

The state’s Public Education Department on Wednesday evening announced that it would instead adopt the nationally respected Next Generation Science Standards in full—without the previously proposed changes. Mother Jones first revealed the controversial proposed changes in September.

Wednesday’s reversal was a major win for science teachers, curriculum experts, and outside advocates, who had angrily protested the education agency’s attempts to politicize the state’s curriculum. “We heard, we responded,” the agency tweeted Thursday.

Here’s more from the Albuquerque Journal:

The science standards outlined by Education Secretary-designate Christopher Ruszkowski on Wednesday contain none of the omissions or changes to the Next Generation Science Standards proposed last month by the agency. Those proposed changes prompted an outcry from scientists and educators.

His decision Wednesday comes after his announcement last week that he would reinstate the original wording regarding evolution, the rise in global temperatures and the 4.6 billion-year age of Earth—the three revisions that had generated the most outcry.

Ruszkowski said Wednesday the public debate about the proposed standards had become a distraction from the vital work of implementing standards that will “raise the bar” and improve student outcomes in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM.

“I feel this issue is dragging the public away from tangible, meaningful outcomes,” he said in a phone conference with the Albuquerque Journal late Wednesday.

Glenn Branch, the deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, says there remain several unanswered questions about the specifics of New Mexico’s adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards. But broadly speaking, the agency’s latest announcement was seen as cause for celebration. “It’s certainly very encouraging,” Branch says.

Other education experts voiced their support of the agency’s decision to change course. “We thank the secretary for listening to all the public comments,” Ellen Loehman, a spokeswoman for the New Mexico Science Teachers Association, told the Albuquerque Journal. “We are pleased and looking forward to a good working relationship.”

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate