After a year of discussion, lobbying and compromise between the student-run Good Trouble Climate Network group and the Colorado Department of Education, climate-related revisions were approved this month for K-12 science standards to strengthen climate science coverage in schools.
The revision process began at a December 2024 State Board of Education meeting, where the board asked the Colorado Department of Education to evaluate the existing K-12 science standards.
According to recent data, many young people and students, globally and throughout the state, are worried about the climate.
In February 2024, Aisha O’Neil, University of Colorado, Boulder sophomore and Durango High School graduate, founded Good Trouble – a statewide network of sustainability clubs across Colorado – in an effort to raise the collective voices of student climate activists across the state.
O'Neil testified before the Colorado State Board of Education on Aug. 20 in support of the revisions.
“We brought together students from 20 different schools across our state. We have almost 15 partner organizations, and we were able to pass these new standards with bipartisan support,” O’Neil told The Durango Herald of Good Trouble’s influence in getting the revisions passed.
“All of that is incredibly empowering to me, and proves to me that students’ voices can make an impact, not only at a local level, but at a statewide level as well,” she said.
On Aug. 21, some – though not all – the revision suggestions were approved by the board. Revisions are set to include several new standards, as well as amendments to existing proposals that more directly acknowledge climate-related language and effects.
Before the revisions were passed, only two references to climate change appeared within the 172 total pages of the Colorado science standards, O’Neil said.
One revision example is the word “ecosystem” replacing “resources” in some assignment instructions related to environmental impacts.
Other revisions include the phrase “climate change” being used several additional times throughout the science standards, as well as wording being changed or added in assignment instructions to reflect human actions and choices having an impact on the environment.
O’Neil sees the revisions as both a win and an opportunity for further activism on the topic.
“It’s absolutely true that not everything we advocated for passed, and we will keep advocating for the state to include more climate education in its standards,” she said. “(But) just that added emphasis, this added validation that climate change is something students should be taught about, is so incredibly powerful. That’s a win. I hope (this) will allow students to feel more hope in this crisis.”
Some pushback was seen by Republican members during early board meetings on the subject.
Despite this, the revisions were ultimately passed through a bipartisan 7-2 vote after several amendments were made to the original propositions.
O’Neil believes the bipartisan outcome illustrates the power of student advocacy.
“It shows me that students can be heard in a way that even overcome partisan boundaries that are usually seen in our country as being insurmountable,” she said.
For O’Neil, the most important takeaway was that the work of the Good Trouble Climate Network and other concerned parties successfully influenced statewide legislative and administrative changes.
“If there’s anything that I take away from this, it’s the power of student voices, and the power of people in general, to make an institutionalized impact on a diverse, wide scale,” she said.
The revisions are expected to be officially implemented in the 2027-28 school year.
epond@durangoherald.com
