To enhance environmental justice education in middle and high schools that serve disadvantaged students.
Ms. CLARKE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor
To enhance environmental justice education in middle and high schools that serve disadvantaged students.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Environmental justice education is essential for--
(A) producing students who are prepared to address not only the imminent climate change issues that effect them locally, but to be the driving force behind global environmental solutions that will be the stimulus of an emerging eco-efficient economy;
(B) addressing the global and local environmental issues that are disproportionately affecting people of color; and
(C) fostering a critical understanding of the environment within the context of human political and social actions.
(2) Environmental justice education lends itself to the field of service learning with the call to move beyond the classroom and experience the earth in an experiential, embodied way which empowers students to confront global environmental justice.
(3) States and local educational agencies should create an integrated curriculum in which environmental justice education is incorporated throughout subject areas such as math, science, history, language arts, and all other core subject areas.
(4) Environmental justice education uses multiple strategies including experiential learning, integrated core subject study, analytical research, and project based learning.
(a) In General- The Secretary of Education shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, make grants on a competitive basis under this Act to States and to local educational agencies that submit to the Secretary an application at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may require. The purpose of the grants is to assist eligible recipients to develop an environmental justice curriculum, and a co-op program, for students attending middle and high schools that--
(1) receive funds under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (29 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.); and
(2) are located in an urban community that may be disproportionately affected by climate change, pollution, and other environmental issues.
(b) Curriculum Development- An environmental justice curriculum developed with funds received under this Act shall satisfy the following objectives:
(1) Educating students, through experiential learning and otherwise, about topics relating to environmental justice, such as air pollution, lead paint poisoning, access to organic foods, sustainable agriculture, proximity to landfills, toxic dumping, relative asthma rates, and the historical patterns of environmental impacts.
(2) Empowering students actively to address environmental issues in their local neighborhoods while also considering global environmental problems.
(3) Allowing students to explore careers that involve solving environmental problems and cultivating innovators to solve such problems.
(4) Enhancing life skills required for sound personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity, such as problem solving, critical thinking, and good stewardship.
(5) Establishing a nurturing environment that fosters democratic and socially just relationships among schools, families, and surrounding communities.
(c) Co-Op Program Development- A co-op program developed with funds received under this Act shall satisfy the following objectives:
(1) Linking students with career opportunities in the environmental field by building partnerships with the public and private sector.
(2) Providing students with an opportunity to earn secondary school course credits or credits towards the jurisdiction's service learning requirements during the summer through experiential learning such as internships and other types of field experience.
(3) Assisting students in building skills necessary for workforce success, such as development of a career path; resume, letter, and memoranda writing; and job interviewing.
(4) Providing students with mentors recruited through the partnerships described in paragraph (1) who are equipped to assist a mentee in the skill building described in paragraph (3).
U.S. Congress - Text of H.R.5902 as Introduced in House GREEN Act
