NYS Board of Regents Allocates Funding for Climate Education – Finger Lakes Daily News

New York’s Board of Regents approved a Department of Education funding request for climate education.
The board is putting more than $536,000 aside for climate change education and materials.
New Jersey is the only state mandating climate change be taught in all subject areas. Connecticut teaches it as well, but primarily in science.
Emily Fano, director of climate resilience education programs with the National Wildlife Federation, described how climate change can be taught across multiple subject areas.
“There are so many ways climate can be integrated into math class, graphing greenhouse gas emissions for example,” said Fano. “Social studies, you can talk about social movements like the youth climate movement that has grown by leaps and bounds all over the world.”
She added that health classes could teach the health impacts of air pollution and poor air quality.
The funding allotment faces no opposition, and a Yale University report finds 81% of New York adults feel climate change should be taught in schools. This is higher than the national average of 75%.
If the funding’s approved, climate change will be taught in New York schools starting in the 2026-2027 school year.
But, climate education has faced an uphill battle.
A bill establishing a course on climate change in elementary and secondary schools garnered widespread support. But, it failed in the state legislature.
Fano said along with a new climate education bill, more work must be done to make this a reality.
“We’ll continue working with the state education department and our partners to make sure that our students are going to get the climate education they need and deserve,” said Fano. “So, we will continue working on this issue regardless, but we really hope the Governor understands the urgency of this request.”
While this funding request provides a framework for training current educators about how to teach climate change, Fano said she wants this training for people studying to be teachers.
An Education Week Research Center poll finds 18% of teachers don’t address climate change because they feel out of their element discussing it.
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