Virginia House Bill 1088, which would require the State Board of Education to assist local school boards with educational materials on climate change and environmental literacy, was announced by Governor Glenn Youngkin on April 2, 2024. It was vetoed by the Republican Party.
If enacted, the bill would require the Board of Education to “make available to each local school board climate change and environmental literacy materials that are based on peer-reviewed scientific sources and included”; “Develop, adopt, and make available to each local school board model policies and procedures for selecting materials on climate change and environmental literacy.”
In his veto statement, Governor Yonkin wrote (PDF), “Learning standards already provide:” [sic] “Educational materials related to environmental issues”, “In addition, the school sector [sic] These new resources must be incorporated into the curriculum outside of standard processes and require no additional funding to purchase materials or reallocate instructional time. ”
However, in a 2020 study of state science standards' treatment of climate change conducted by NCSE and the Texas Freedom Network Educational Fund, Virginia's state science standards received an F grade. Additionally, there was nothing in House Bill 1088 that required school districts to adopt educational materials or model policies and procedures provided by the State Board of Education.
In response to Governor Youngkin’s statement, NCSE’s Glenn Branch told WVTF (April 4, 2024) that the bill “isn’t redundant…it’s a failure to address climate change in the state’s science standards.” It was necessary considering the sufficiency.”
