I am so mad I can't hardly see straight. My kid came home from school yesterday and said that the science teacher for the middle school says that global warming is a myth. She is also going to have all of the 7th and 8th graders do a "lab" which "proves" global warming is a myth. she also told them that it is a lie made up by scientists to keep getting money for research.
So, last evening, we sent a very polite email asking her to please keep politics out of the classroom. She responded saying,
"If you look up climategate on the internet you will find the emails in which the scientists working for various governments falsified their data because what they were getting didn’t fit the global warming trends they so desperately wanted to see. And in order to keep getting money to fund their research they had to show upward trends in the climate but what they found in fact was a cooling."
Also, "sunspots" and "cosmic rays" and "hoax."
She concluded by telling us to, essentially, get stuffed, she was going to teach this to our kids whether we liked it or not.
This is a parochial school, which means that we pay tuition and there is no tax dollars in our budget. So, while this gives parents somewhat more pull than otherwise, I suspect that significant number of parents probably believe her. My husband is on the school board and is having a meeting tonight. In the meantime, I am trying to remain calm and not march up to the school and cause a scene.
Suggestions are welcome here, especially on how to shield my kid from any retaliation on the teacher's part. Meanwhile, I am looking for new schools if this is not resolved in our favor. (by which I mean to say, she stops teaching conspiracy theories and starts teaching science.)
I do not much relish the prospect of changing schools. We have been happy there and, more importantly, our kids are happy there. My daughter, in particular, would be devastated if we took her away from her closest friends just two years before graduation.
But I can't tolerate a science teacher teaching my kids the 21st century version of "the earth is flat." Which will harm them the most in the end--being the new kid or being taught shit?
3:15 PM PT: Many thanks to Eileen B and others who, upon realizing this was a Catholic School, helpfully provided me with the Vatican's position on global warming, which states, in part "We call on all people and nations to recognise the serious and potentially irreversible impacts of global warming caused by the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants..."
http://www.vatican.va/...
6:52 PM PT: UPDATE: the principal could not make it to the school board meeting and the priest had to leave very early. Rather than bring the matter up with the two most senior members of the school board unavailable, my husband has privately emailed the principal.
I should also pass along that my spouse was thrilled with the information given by EileenB and others about the Church's position of stewardship of the planet in the face of global warming. We are Catholics and had no idea this was Church doctrine.
8:21 PM PT: REC LIST??? WOW!!! A first for me! I will keep you all posted on developments. Some had asked in the comments about the teacher. She has a BS and has been teaching in the Catholic high schools for years. She is keeping the children engaged and my daughter likes her.
My only in-depth conversation with her before school started was about "Twilight." ( Me: Edward Cullen was the worst BF since Heathcliff and breaking into Bella's house to smell her clothes when she wasn't there earned him a "Jr. Stalker" badge. Her: Edward was sooooooo romantic.)