ANTA FE, N.M. -- New Mexico's public education secretary is defending new proposed science standards that have been widely criticized for deleting or omitting references to global warming, evolution and the age of the earth.

State education officials are holding their one and only public hearing Monday to gather comments on the proposed standards.

In a public message published Sunday, Public Education Secretary Christopher Ruszkowski says the new standards will give teachers and families flexibility and local control around science materials, curriculum and content. He did not specifically address how the standards address the teaching of evolution and climate change.

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Top scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, science education associations and major New Mexico school districts are asking the state to adopt unedited standards developed by a consortium on states.