The Ecological Society of America sent a letter to the Texas School
Board about this issue.
David Inouye
Several textbook publishers, including Pearson Education and
McGraw-Hill, have removed content from proposed social studies
textbooks that education and science groups said promoted "climate
change denialism" to Texas students.
In one example, a McGraw-Hill text "equated" statements from the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a scientific body under
the auspices of the United Nations, with statements from the
Heartland Institute, a political advocacy group. The publisher said
today it will remove the exercise, which critics said suggested that
climate change is debated among scientists more than it actually is.
Groups including the Texas Freedom Network, the National Center for
Science Education, and Climate Parents had been pushing publishers
to make the changes before the Texas State Board of Education meets
Tuesday to approve the textbooks on a preliminary basis. A final
vote is scheduled for Friday and the textbooks would be distributed
to students in the state starting in the next academic year.
The publishers Pearson, WorldView Software and Studies Weekly
Publications had already revised their proposed textbooks, Texas
Freedom Network said in a release, adding that McGraw-Hill confirmed
its own revisions today.
