PILLAR 4: SPECIFIC STEPS FORWARD111

1. Parents, Students and School Staff Should:

• Work to integrate student participation into efforts to make schools greener and healthier places, adapting established methodologies to do so.
• Develop or adapt hands–on, place–based approaches to environmental education.
• Work with and encourage environmental advocacy groups to work collaboratively to integrate place–based, environmental learning into the curriculum, highlighting the benefits for achieving academic standards as well as improving the environment.
• Pressure school districts, along with local, state and federal governments to do the following:

2. School Districts and Local Governments Should:

• Adapt frameworks that integrate environmental education and student participation into school greening initiatives.
• Promote partnerships with environmental education providers (nonprofit and public agencies) to help integrate environmental learning into the curriculum

3. State Education Departments and Governments Should:

• Adapt frameworks, like that of the Oregon Green Schools Association, that integrate environmental education and student participation into school greening initiatives.
• Significantly increase funding for environmental education using environmental fines or fees as a source for this funding.
• Make place–based environmental education central to the development of state–wide environmental education standards and curricula as part of the Leave No Child Behind mandate for science standards, as well as independently of them. A panel of environmental education groups should vigorously review such standards and curricula, so as to avoid industry co–optation.

4. The Federal Government Should:

• Significantly increase funding for environmental education, using environmental fines or fees as a source for this funding.
• Integrate environmental education into national teacher accreditation standards.
• Make place–based environmental education central to the development of national environmental education standards.