Republican senators have rejected an amendment to establish a federal climate change program that would have created funding for schools to better their climate change curriculum and access supplementary materials, according to TheHill.com.

The measure failed on a close 44-53 vote and was seen by both supporters and opponents as similar to the Common Core in giving the federal government the power to tie funding to standards.

Author of the amendment, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), said the measure was designed to create a standard for science education for future "green" generations.

But Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the author of the Senate’s education bill, despite calling "himself a 'a Republican who believes climate change is a problem and that human activity is a major contributor to that problem,'... warned that attaching the amendment to his bill could lead to curriculum whiplash depending on which party holds the White House and sets education standards," he said, according to the article.

He was worried that depending on who was in office, the curriculum standards would change resulting in an inconsistent and unpredictable measure.

“'Just imagine what the curriculum on climate change would be if we shifted from President Obama to President Cruz and then back to President Sanders and then to President Trump...There would be a lot of wasted paper, writing and rewriting textbooks,'" he said, according to the article.

Most Republicans agreed with him, as only two voted in favor of the amendment.

Read the full article here and comment with your thoughts below.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

07/16/2015