coe-staff: Oregon K-12 proposed climate education legislation

[Lisa Fortin]

Sent on behalf of Sarah Stapleton

Dear Education Colleagues,

Over the past year I have been involved with a group of dedicated educators to introduce climate education legislation for K-12 schools. We are excited to be introducing the legislation this fall/winter and are hoping to garner support from our statewide education community. The Oregon Education Association officially voted to endorse it, and we are hoping to continue to garner support from the statewide education community.

Please feel free to pass this along to anyone in your networks who might be interested. Please also feel free to contact me with questions.

All my best,
Sarah

--
Sarah R. Stapleton, PhD (she/her)
Assistant Professor
Education Studies, College of Education
Core Faculty, Environmental Studies
University of Oregon
https://education.uoregon.edu/people/faculty/sstaplet

“Sometimes we just simply have to find a way. The moment we decide to fulfill something, we can do anything. And I’m sure the moment we start behaving as if we were in an emergency, we can avoid climate and ecological catastrophe. Humans are very adaptable: we can still fix this. But the opportunity to do so will not last for long. We must start today. We have no more excuses.” –Greta Thunberg

*********


Dear Education Community,


     We hope this finds you well. We’re K-16 educators from across the state working to gather student/teacher input for a climate change education bill<https://tinyurl.com/oeced> we are submitting to the Oregon Legislature. It looks promising: OPB<https://www.opb.org/article/2022/07/15/oregon-student-students-climate-change-protest-activism/> and Eugene Weekly<https://eugeneweekly.com/2022/05/26/educating-for-the-climate/> picked up the story, Oregon Education Association (40,000+ members) and others have endorsed it, and several legislators have indicated strong support. The draft bill is structured on big pieces of education legislation recently passed in Oregon: SB 664 (Genocide/Holocaust Education), SB 13 (Tribal History | Shared History), and HB 2845 (Ethnic Studies).

     Our group is called Oregon Educators for Climate Education<https://www.oregonclimateed.org/>, and we have some informational sessions coming up. We thought you might be interested, and know others who would be as well. Please take a look at this flyer<https://www.canva.com/design/DAFMzCHMvxA/mr_NVSVkQk8_TXiPHkcWZA/view?utm_content=DAFMzCHMvxA&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink#1> and consider sharing it (includes the Zoom URL). (Thanks for considering!) In case you want to check your calendar, the information sessions are set for:

·  Tu 10/11 @ 4:30pm

·  Wed 10/12 @ 12pm

·  Thur 10/13 @ 12pm

·  Fri 10/14 @ 12pm

·  Sat 10/15 @ 5pm

     In coming weeks, it appears that the draft bill will be sponsored and receive a number. Around that time, we’ll be in touch again with the hopes you might personally reach out to your state-level representatives<https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/findyourlegislator/leg-districts.html> to express your support, and/or provide OECE a letter of support to share with the legislative Education Committee. Perhaps you might even encourage any groups or organizations you are a part of to express their support as well.

     Please be in touch, let us know how you’re doing, and share your thoughts about this project.


Thank you,


OECE Steering Committee


Nicole Butler-Hooton

Instructional Coach, Bethel SD

Citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz and San Carlos Apache Tribe


Breck Foster

Spanish & Social Studies Teacher, Lake Oswego SD


Darin Henry

Retired Campus Supervisor, Sheldon High School

Picuris Pueblo


Jenoge Khatter

Vice President, Oregon Council of the Social Studies


Niels Pasternak

Special Education Committee Chair, Oregon Education Association


Sarah Ruggiero-Kirby

Science Specialist & Outdoor School Coordinator, Eugene SD


Tana Shepard

Climate, Energy & Conservation Education Specialist, EWEB/4J


Sarah Stapleton

Assistant Professor, Education Studies & Environmental Studies, University of Oregon


Casey Tiemann

Counselor, Churchill High School









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