Sigh

Los Alamitos school board officials must now demonstrate that their climate change curriculum is balanced:

The high school will begin offering an advanced-placement environmental science course next fall. Based on demand elsewhere in California, district officials expect it to be popular—more than 15,000 public school students enrolled in the class in 2008-09.

Although there is a consensus among scientists, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, that global climate change exists, the board of education said the topic is controversial enough to require a change in the district’s policy.

The new class will be the first for which district teachers must prove political balance to the school board.