We’d be doing well by teaching K-12 students basic reasoning skills instead of scientific controversies for which they don’t have the tools to make reasoned decisions. Perhaps non-U.S. posters here are unaware of how badly our K-12 students perform in math and science relative to other countries? We’re currently duking it out with Mexico—I expect that we’ll lose that one, too, and sink even lower. And teachers of these subjects are not much better. We have smart scientists, but over a long period of time the myriad reasons to avoid teaching careers (low pay, running the gauntlet of useless administrators, dealing with helicopter parents, etc.) have driven all but the most dedicated of the bright ones away. So how will students be taught about global warming that won’t amount to teachers who are barely scientifically literate opening a holy book and reciting scripture?
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