Rallying for science

Citizens of New Mexico deserve a round of applause. When presented with the reality that the Public Education Department was considering dumbing down science standards — eliminating such facts as the age of the Earth the theory of evolution and the mention of climate change — they stood up for science.

That meant in sending in hundreds of comments to the department as it considered the adoption of modified Next Generation Science Standards, but also showing up in person on Monday for the hearing. Some came all the way from Las Cruces and other areas far from Santa Fe or Albuquerque. This was a united state.

So many people turned out that the hearing room could not hold all who wanted to speak and watch. In mid-hearing, a fire alarm went off, halting the proceedings. The room was filled beyond capacity, despite taking testimony at 9 a.m. on a Monday when the people most impacted, teachers and students, were in school.

Shame on state bureaucrats for not considering — given the volume of comments — that a bigger room would be needed or that a more convenient time would have been welcome. That’s a less-than-subtle way to stifle dissent.

Shame, too, on Public Education Department Secretary designate Christopher Ruszkowski, who did not show up to hear the public testimony; while that is commonplace in such hearings, the outpouring of reaction to proposed standards should have prompted a different response.

Shame, most of all, on Gov. Susana Martinez, who is not calling a halt to this bad science.

The standards as initially developed would improve science teaching in New Mexico’s public schools. They already have been adopted by at least 18 states. At some point in the process, though, Ruszkowski — at whose behest we don’t know — decided to weaken the standards. These hearings seem less like an attempt to hear the public out and more like a procedural move, after which, Ruszkowski will put in place weakened standards disguised as choice.

Or, perhaps the sight of so many citizens, excited about science and public education, will put a stop to the amended standards. The state should adopt Next Generation Science Standards as originally written, period. If not, local school boards will have to resist, at least until a new governor can reverse the policy.