Florida’s Department of Education approves classroom use of videos produced by a conservative group that denies climate change.
Florida is the first state to allow PragerU materials in public schools, where teachers will have the option of showing the five- to 10-minute videos in their classrooms. For now, Florida has approved using PragerU videos only in civics and government for younger children. Some PragerU climate denial videos are classified under non-climate categories, which could enable their use in Florida.
Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, said Florida is effectively supporting parents and teachers who want to tear down accurate climate science lessons. In the video, teenager Ania is concerned about climate change because of what she learned at school. Climate-denial talking points are introduced almost verbatim in the trusted voice of Ania’s mother and father.
Streit, the PragerU CEO, said she wants to ensure schools frame climate science as a debate. A goal of her organization is to reach children when they are at their most impressionable. That’s why Florida approved the PragerU Kids channel content, she said.
Florida is just the latest state to open the door to climate disinformation. Texas changed its science curriculum to require that schoolsabout fossil fuels. It’s an effort to downplay accurate climate science and to influence the national textbook market, since Texas is one of the biggest consumers of educational materials in the U.S.