2020 -- H 7471

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LC004002

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING THAT THE RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATION DEVELOP A SET OF KEY ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE

PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS TO BE INFUSED IN ALL SUBJECTS FOR K-12 PUBLIC

SCHOOL STUDENTS

     

     Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, Bennett, Donovan, Amore, and Speakman

     Date Introduced: February 06, 2020

     Referred To: House Health, Education & Welfare

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     WHEREAS, The evidence for human-induced climate change is overwhelming and

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undeniable; and

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     WHEREAS, The heaviest burden of climate change will fall on the next generation; and

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     WHEREAS, Nearly 10,000 students graduate from Rhode Island high schools each year,

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armed with attitudes, skills, and knowledge about the climate that inform their actions; and

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     WHEREAS, The effects on the climate, positive or negative, of each of those 10,000

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students lasts beyond a lifetime; and

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     WHEREAS, Students need to be prepared to implement changes in professional and

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personal practices, to support and help develop new technology and policy, and to address the

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coming social and economic challenges and opportunities arising from a changing climate; and

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     WHEREAS, It is thus essential that each of these graduates are climate literate; and

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     WHEREAS, According to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communications, over

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76 percent of the people in Rhode Island support teaching students about the causes,

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consequences, and potential solutions to climate change; and

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     WHEREAS, According to the National Center for Science Education, 86 percent of

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teachers in the United States feel that climate change should be taught in schools; and

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     WHEREAS, Only thirty percent of middle school and forty-five percent of high school

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science teachers nationally, understand the extent of the scientific consensus on climate change;

 

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and

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     WHEREAS, The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), signed into law in 2015, names

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environmental education as part of a well-rounded education, and allows federal funding from

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ESSA to be used to introduce or expand environmental education in school districts; and

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     WHEREAS, The National Science Teaching Association, the National Association of

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Geoscience Teachers, the National Association of Biology Teachers, and other professional

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organizations have called for greater support for science educators in teaching climate science

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and climate change; and

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     WHEREAS, The Resilient Rhody Report recommends that K-12 Education be expanded

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to include education on environmental literacy, including climate-related emergency

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preparedness, by developing resources for school use and identifying how these concepts can be

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incorporated into existing state standards; and

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     WHEREAS, The students in Rhode Island have requested that climate change education

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be included in the curriculum; and

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     WHEREAS, The impact of climate change and the urgency and magnitude of the

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challenge of addressing climate change will soon fall on current students; now, therefore be it

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     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

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Providence Plantations hereby requests that the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE),

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in consultation with a wide representation from the environmental and climate education

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community, develop a set of key environmental and climate principles and concepts which should

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be infused into all subjects throughout K-12, develop learning standards for the same, and ensure

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that all teacher professional development includes these principles and concepts; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That this House hereby urges all elementary and secondary public schools

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including middle schools, or any other schools managed and controlled by the state, to offer as

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part of the curriculum, courses in climate and environmental literacy; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That this House hereby urges the Rhode Island Department of Education to

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ensure that teacher professional development in Rhode Island in the Common Core State

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Standards and in the Next Generation Science Standards use climate as an exemplary anchor

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phenomenon; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That this House respectfully urges the Rhode Island Department of

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Education to make available on its website, curriculum materials and such other materials as may

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assist local and regional school committees in developing instructional programs in climate and

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environmental literacy. RIDE shall consult with practicing teachers, principals, superintendents

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and experts when making such curriculum and other materials available. The curriculum and

 

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materials selected shall be aligned with state standards and assessments and contain sufficient

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detail to guide teachers in planning lessons aligned with state standards and assessments; and be it

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further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

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transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Ms. Barbara S. Cottam, Chair, Rhode Island

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Board of Education.

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LC004002

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