Senate panel approves amendment expanding climate education to several subjects

The Senate Education Committee on May 21 adopted an amendment to House Bill 3,365 that replaces a requirement to include climate change instruction in "core subjects" with a directive that the State Board of Education ensure climate education is included in science, health, history, geography, economics and civics during standards reviews. The committee later voted to send the bill as amended to the floor with a do-pass recommendation.

The amendment — described in the hearing as the “dash 8” change — was presented to the committee by staff. Committee members debated whether instruction about causes, effects and response strategies for climate change belongs in K–12 standards. In committee discussion some members expressed concern that climate change is politicized and that classroom instruction could become one-sided; other members said the amendment allows time and curriculum review cycles to incorporate the topic across multiple disciplines.

Lisa, committee staff, summarized the bill for the committee, saying that House Bill 3,365 “requires the State Board of Education to ensure that academic competence for core subjects provide sufficient instruction on the causes and effect of climate change and strategies for responding,” and that the dash 8 amendment replaces the single “core subjects” requirement with the multi-subject mandate and has a minimal fiscal impact and no revenue impact.

Vice Chair Weber moved adoption of the dash 8 amendment; a roll-call recorded in the transcript shows the amendment passed (recorded ayes from Senator Gelser [Blue/Abdullah], Senator Solman, Vice Chair Weber and Chair Frederick; recorded no from Senator Robinson). The committee later approved a motion moved by Vice Chair Weber to send House Bill 3,365 as amended to the floor with a do-pass recommendation; the transcript records a roll call and shows the motion passed.

Committee members who supported the amendment said they appreciated that the change ties new requirements to the regular schedule for standards review rather than imposing immediate curricular changes. Supporters noted geography, economics and civics as logical places to discuss human movement and societal responses to natural events, and said many constituents had urged inclusion of climate-related learning. Opponents voiced concerns about classroom emphasis, testing priorities and possible student anxiety relating to climate change.

The bill, as amended, applies the new requirement to content-standard reviews and revisions that occur after the measure’s effective date. Committee staff said the underlying measure and the amendment have minimal fiscal impact and no revenue impact.

The committee’s action sends the matter to the next stage of floor consideration; the transcript shows the committee selected a floor carrier but did not record further amendments on the Senate floor during this hearing.

The committee’s discussion placed emphasis on how the State Board of Education implements content revisions during regular review cycles and on balancing classroom time for foundational literacy and math skills with broader civic and scientific literacy topics.