PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 28, 2022
I appreciate the Press Herald’s concern about whether the proposed pilot program to encourage climate education in Maine public schools will be accessible to educators in school districts with fewer resources. Making climate education more accessible was one of the strategies laid out in the Maine Climate Council’s four-year plan. We need to be investing in the next generation of Mainers because the effects and new opportunities from climate change will be numerous and fast to manifest. Many teachers and students have asked for resources to expand their knowledge of the subject. This bill is neither new curricula nor a mandate. Instead, it will support schools to meet the existing Next Generation Science Standards in climate science, as well as to lean into the interdisciplinary nature of the science. ~ Rep. Lydia Blume, York