Addendum 1 The Climate Curricula Task Force Job Description
The Climate Curricula Task Force should have between 20 and 50 members, including both paid coordinator positions and support for the selection and inclusion of representation from all school stakeholders including students, parents, teachers, staff and admin, of community groups including equity, environmental justice, climate advocacy, and outdoor education groups, of businesses, and of the unions. It will:
Work with the Board, Curriculum Coordinators, and the UTLA to establish goals in the form of a District Climate Rubric of Implementation (ROI), including a newly-required, yearly climate action plan to be developed by each school, and to develop a Framework for climate education across the grades and curricula, that supports infusion of climate curriculum into all academic areas, including outdoor education, school gardens, and greenspace partnerships;
Incorporate and assess climate crisis focus in all existing LAUSD academic partnerships, with particular attention to internships, with such partners as California Partnership Academies, California Conservation Corps, OEHS, Metropolitan Water District, LADWP - Wildwood Foundation, Tree People/Generation Earth, Sierra Club, Project WET, Heal the Bay, Climate Reality LA, EmPowered, Nature Bridge, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, etc;
Establish a new opportunity, with its own requirements, tiered goals, and assessments, for committed schools to earn a Sustainability Certificate. Teacher incentives will include tiered teacher badges, salary points, a salary differential and/or stipend. Local Districts will be recognized based on implementation to encourage participation. Certification will help schools qualify for California Department of Education’s Green Ribbon School Award Program with a goal of at least a 10% increase in Green Ribbon participation each year;
Create a Toolkit for LAUSD schools with steps towards achieving the implementation of the 100% committed sustainability and the climate curriculum resolutions, and with the requirements for the tiers of the Sustainability Certificate programs;
Work with LAUSD’s Curriculum Coordinators within the Division of Instruction, the Local District Interdisciplinary Specialists, and teachers (position with stipend offered) in the development of the climate education Framework and the Climate Change Solutions culminating one-semester class;
Collaborate with all District teacher training programs and partners, such as the National Board Certification (NBC) and Beginning Teacher Growth and Development Induction (BTGDI) programs, to encourage them to offer pathways for teachers to develop climate literacy-related skills;
Create a teacher-friendly and engaging resource webpage/website that curates a a living database of climate curriculum and can be linked to district websites; this can be a paid teacher position or part of the administrative duties;
Get approved the use of Truth in 10 Climate Reality presentation or its equivalent, updated yearly, as a Climate Crisis Awareness online training requirement for all teachers and staff (similar to Child Abuse Awareness and Blood Borne Pathogens Awareness);
Convene monthly the 60 Climate Curriculum Advisors (see Addendum 2) to provide and receive training, keep abreast of events, and to coordinate their efforts.
Addendum 2 Climate Advisors Job Description
Climate advisors should constitute a corps of educators, mentors, and advocates who work together to bring the District’s climate curricula initiatives to each school and to support schools and communities during their transition to rigorous climate teaching. Their jobs include:
Meeting with school based administrators to pre-assess schools and to help design and implement goals for the yearly climate action plans for each school; and to help support all school climate efforts;
Coordinating with the local district interdisciplinary studies (STEAM) coordinators, the local community colleges, adult ed, and occupational centers;
Meeting with Climate Coaches (See number 7 in Resolution.), other faculty, departments, and other academic coaches, to guide academic efforts to meeting the District Climate Rubric of Implementation (Climate ROI). Support will include suggestions of curricular materials and trainings,
Connecting teachers to local environmental projects and resources. Advisors can support teachers, and NBC candidates developing climate curricula that align with the particular ecological landscape and environmental concerns (e.g., toxic tours) surrounding each school;
Meeting with student governments, environmental clubs, and other relevant student bodies to help strengthen their efforts on climate issues;
Meeting with PTSA’s and other parent groups, to learn about the community’s concerns and their resources for change, to coordinate with them to shape the schools’ climate efforts;
Connecting schools with neighborhood councils, and local community and industry organizations promoting sustainability projects and policy;
Meeting with the school’s M&O personnel and Food Service coordinators to understand their concerns and goals, in order to help support their efforts with curricula and school culture,
Researching grants and supporting the writing of grants for local school projects including but not limited to California Department of Education’s Environmental Education Grant Program.
Helping coordinate meetings of parents, students, teachers, administrators, and community members at every school each year to create a climate teaching plan, monitor and improve the teaching, learning, and solutions for the impact of climate change in their communities.
Participating monthly in the citywide meetings of Climate Advisors, to exchange ideas, materials, difficulties and solutions, coordinate across the city, and receive ongoing training.
Addendum 3 References, maps and articles and papers
Climate Justice Maps:
Mapping InequalityRedlining in New Deal America Interactive map of redlining in Los Angeles.
Draft CalEnviroScreen 4.0 CalEnviroscreen map of Los Angeles and beyond.
https://www.equityallianceforlaskids.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SENI-COVID-Map.png This shows the highest need schools as evaluated using the SENI indicator.
Federal and State Education Programs / Title I Ranking 2020-2021 table of Title I schools in LAUSD, with name, % eligible, zipcode.
Articles and papers:
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/announcements/when-heat-student-learning-suffer
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7277007/
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/ Scroll to middle of page to read section on West.
Climate Change Could Have Played A Role In The Covid-19 Outbreak.
https://ipbes.net/sites/default/files/2020-12/IPBES%20Workshop%20on%20Biodiversity%20and%20Pandemics%20Report_0.pdf Zoonotic disease (e.g. COVID 19)
a. AR6 WGI Summary for Policymakers Headline Statements and b. Climate change widespread, rapid, and intensifying – IPCC — IPCC
Parents can’t fix climate change with life hacks — but here are ways to make a real impact
https://www.childrenandnature.org/wp-content/uploads/CNN_NatureImprove_16-10-27_O_newlogo.pdf , An infographic about how nature improves mental and physical health, citing studies.
https://www.childrenandnature.org/wp-content/uploads/CCCN-Literature-Review.pdf A 2018 literature review citing 28 articles linking school and community greenspace to equity, improved mental and physical health, and academic
LACI Report Lays Out Path to Create 600,000 Green Jobs Countywide by 2050 - LACI
The nine boundaries humanity must respect to keep the planet habitable
Coalition for Climate Education Policy. https://www.climateedpolicy.org/about/our-policy-agenda Briefly look at each of the four areas and see how it aligns with our plan.
And then Undaunted K12 Five Guiding Principles. Please don’t miss pages 21—23.https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MjL2MO_BqizHFgzdgssOeVHdM9ULJ-6f/view
PACE. https://edpolicyinca.org/topics/education-finance An organization for transparency in educational policy funding, includes next article.
Unprecedented California budget to usher in sweeping education changes Find the priorities of the State and say how our priorities might fit in.
Environmental and Climate Change Literacy Projects (ECCLPs which is a project of the UC and CSU systems to achieve climate education PK-12. Please don’t miss pp. 13-16.
The Equity Alliance for LA’s Kids has campaigned for years and the movement has won the Equity is Justice Resolution. This is the most complete version of what passed May 11 2021, giving $700 M to be allocated through Student Equity Needs Index, $300 M in discretionary funding. http://laschoolboard.org/sites/default/files/05-11-21RegBdTab14EquityIsJusticeAmendmentsGonez.pdf
http://laschoolboard.org/sites/default/files/06-15-21SpclBdLCAPPathRecoveryBudgetPlan.pdf
Additional articles of interest:
Social and Emotional: https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/most-american-teens-are-frightened-by-climate-change-poll-finds-and-about-1-in-4-are-taking-action/2019/09/15/1936da1c-d639-11e9-9610-fb56c5522e1c_story.html
Best practices:
North American Association for Environmental Education, looked at effective climate education: https://cdn.naaee.org/sites/default/files/cce.exec_summ-1.pdf