At a time when climate change education is under legislative assault in Florida, a new poll from the Saint Leo University Polling Institute shows strong support in the Sunshine State for teaching climate change in the state's public schools.
Presented with "Climate change should be taught as accepted theory in public primary and secondary schools," 65.2 percent of Floridian respondents strongly (37 percent) or somewhat (28.2 percent) agreed, while only 25.4 percent somewhat (12.8 percent) or strongly (12.6 percent) disagreed, with 9.4 percent registered as unsure.
As NCSE previously reported, three bills in the Florida legislature — Senate Bill 330, House Bill 855, and Senate Bill 1454 — threaten the integrity of science education by calling for "balance" in state science standards and instructional materials with regard to "controversial issues" — which evidently include climate change as well as evolution.
The Florida portion of the poll was conducted on-line from February 16 to 25, 2019, among 500 people in a large online panel. According to the institute, "The Florida poll has a +/- 4.5 percent margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level (on a composite basis)."