The New York City Council adopted Resolution 0375 on April 20, 2016, calling on the New York state department of education to include lessons on climate change in the curriculum of the state's public K-12 schools — and NCSE was cited.
The resolution begins, "Whereas, According to the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), 'it is important for the science of climate change to be taught, both in formal and informal educational environments, in order for future citizens to be able to make scientifically informed decisions about the consequences of climate change.'"
The resolution also notes that although "thirteen" (now, eighteen) states have adopted the Next Generation Science Standards, which recommend the teaching of climate change as early as middle school, New York is not among them. (As a lead state partner of the NGSS, however, New York is committed to giving the NGSS serious consideration.)
The prime sponsor of the resolution was Costa G. Constantinides, but, according to AM New York (April 22, 2016), the idea of the resolution "originated with high school activists from Global Kids, who rallied at City Hall in 2014 and continued lobbying councilmembers," including by a petition describing teaching climate change as a moral duty.
Although the resolution has no legal force, Evie Hantzopoulos, the executive director of Global Kids, wrote at the Huffington Post (April 22, 2016), "The students will now take their campaign and this resolution to New York State officials that oversee curriculum."