New Mexico Abandons School Science Standard Changes That Omitted Evolution

SANTA FE, NM — Following intense public criticism over proposed changes to New Mexico's school science standards — which omitted references to global warming, evolution and the Earth's age — the state's public education secretary said the state reversed course and would adopt widely used standards in their entirety. New Mexico's final standards version will replicate Next Generation Science Standards developed by a consortium of states, with six added passages tied to local accomplishments in science and industry, Public Education Secretary Christopher Ruszkowski said Wednesday night.

A previous version contained about 35 New Mexico-related passages, which detracted from the main goal of science education in the eyes of many critics.

A public hearing on the earlier version drew scores of impassioned pleas for the state to reconsider and adopt an unedited template. Critics included leading scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, science teachers associations, faith leaders, as well as teachers and administrators from several New Mexico school districts.

Ruszkowski said he hoped to channel the passions from that hearing into efforts to help children live up to expectations in the new teaching guidelines.

"We as New Mexicans, as a community, are going to have to be equally fired up about how are kids are doing in terms of mastering the standards," he said.

The final state standards will carry a distinctly New Mexican title — the New Mexico STEM-Ready Science Standards — while automatically incorporating future updates and amendments to the widely used Next Generation Science Standards.

One new component of the standards asks students to "obtain and communicate information about the role of New Mexico in nuclear science and 21st century scientific innovations, including how the national laboratories have contributed to theoretical, experimental and applied science." Another asks students to describe the advantages and disadvantages of technologies associated with the state's energy production.

The new standards are scheduled to take effect in July 2018. Student testing under the new guidelines would begin in 2020.

By MORGAN LEE, Associated Press

Photo credit: Morgan Lee/Associated Press