A large majority of teachers say that climate change should be taught in schools, according to a new NPR - Ipsos poll. But the same poll that found that most teachers don't teach climate change to their students.
Connecticut is one of 19 states that uses the Next Generation Science Standards, which includes climate change as a core topic beginning in middle school. But this survey showed that more than 80 percent of teachers around the country think their states should follow suit.
The poll surveyed more than 500 teachers from across the country. While most of the teachers polled agreed that climate change is happening, 8 percent said they don't believe in it. Another 4 percent said their school doesn't allow teaching climate change.
Students were also more likely to bring up climate change in class if they were being taught about it in school. About twice as many teachers said that human beings were the primary cause of global warming, compared to those who said it was mostly natural.
State lawmakers proposed a bill this year to start teaching climate change earlier, and there was also a bill that would have ended teaching about it. Neither of those bills have been considered for a vote.
