Texas Bans 7/12 Science Textbooks Because Of Climate Content As Oil Majors Roll Out O&G Training For High Schools

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An effort to expand access to oil and gas production courses to other high schools in Texas and New Mexico is underway, led in large part by energy companies. The region’s education leaders say the support helps both the schools and the industry. “From the energy industry’s perspective, they are developing the next generation of workers,” said Scott Muri, superintendent of the public school district in Ector County, which includes Odessa.

Working with the state’s education department, the Permian Strategic Partnership, an organization made up of the leading energy companies including Chevron, ConocoPhillipps and ExxonMobil, is helping two schools in the Permian Basin and two in New Mexico put in place similar coursework that Parra is learning today. Despite the fact that the West Texas economy has long run on the extraction business, this is one of the first modern attempts to prepare high school students to work in the fields before they graduate. It’s part of a shift in public education to work closely with local business leaders to provide students with specific employable skills. The partnership plans to foot the cost of classroom supplies, teacher training and marketing.

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A heated statewide debate over how to teach climate change in schools serves as the backdrop to the industry’s efforts to expand vocational instruction in the Permian Basin. Last week, the State Board of Education, a 15-member body controlled by Republicans, voted to reject seven of 12 proposed science books. The board rejected textbooks containing policy solutions for climate change, as well as those published by companies that advocate for certain policies to combat climate change. Human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gasses from fossil fuel use, are the leading cause of climate change, according to the National Climate Assessment, a federal report requested by Congress in 1990 and signed into law by Republican President George H.W. Bush.

School districts aren’t obligated to exclusively use state-approved titles, but most will since those books are guaranteed to comply with state standards. The Permian partnership, which led the $4.5 million effort to put the class in place, declined to specifically address how climate change is addressed in Texas classrooms. In a statement, the partnership said it would follow all state standards.

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https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/21/oil-gas-public-education-west-texas-new-mexico/