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Students in Florida are reading watered-down versions of some science textbooks. Authors blew the whistle in 2024, saying the state pushed back on facts about human-caused climate change. Jessica Meszaros of member station WUSF and the Hechinger Report uncovered emails showing the state's demands.
JESSICA MESZAROS, BYLINE: Climate change was swapped for changes in the environment in the Florida version of McGraw Hill's marine science book. The word polluting vanished from in front of coal-burning power plants in an environmental science text by publisher Cengage that's only available in Florida. And detailed facts were crossed out in both books, like how a World Health Organization study shows climate change is killing at least 150,000 people per year, or how college students helped their school buy renewable electricity.
Ken Miller has authored one of the nation's most popular biology textbooks for nearly 30 years. But two years ago, he says, something shifted.
KEN MILLER: The Florida Department of Education was pressuring publishers to reduce or eliminate coverage of climate change as a condition for getting on the approved list.
MESZAROS: Being on that list is required to sell textbooks to public schools in Florida. State education officials asked Miller's publisher, Savvas Learning Company, to strike the words - caused by human activity - when his text referred to climate change. Textbook publishers Cengage and McGraw Hill both say it's typical to make different versions for states while maintaining the integrity of the content. Miller says he couldn't fight his editors or publisher on the Florida changes.
MILLER: We don't want our books to be affected by political considerations one way or another. What we care about is what's going on in science.
MESZAROS: The books still cover the topic of climate change, but they minimize the usage of the term and what causes it. The Florida Department of Education said in a statement that review of instructional materials is guided by state law. Florida's Republican legislature decided two years ago to strike the term climate change from state statutes. The law did not require adjustments to climate change education. But just two months after Governor Ron DeSantis signed the bill, the Education Department started to make requests for textbook edits.
UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER #1: Now we can't teach the kids about climate change.
MESZAROS: This Central Florida middle school science teacher asked to remain anonymous and to change his voice. He's afraid of retaliation from parents, his school board and the state.
UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER #1: We're in a state that is arguably the most affected by climate change and will continue to be, and DeSantis is just pretending like it doesn't exist.
MESZAROS: A high school English teacher from the Tampa Bay region also asked to speak anonymously because school leadership told her not to speak on controversial topics.
UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER #2: There is this culture of self-censorship that I've seen developing over the past few years I've been teaching, where we're trying to predict what is going to be a problem.
MESZAROS: Now Florida is quietly updating its science standards for the first time in nearly 20 years. They still include climate change for now, so some fear climate education could take another hit. Texas has also rejected textbooks because they focus on human causes or suggest policy fixes to combat climate change. But then you have other states, like California, New Jersey and Hawaii, which want more climate content in classrooms. What may be emerging is a two-tiered system where what students learn about climate change depends on what side of a state line they live on.
For NPR News, I'm Jessica Meszaros in Tampa.
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