Climate Education Public Hearing

It is critical that we teach our children the importance of climate change and how it directly affects their lives so they can make informed decisions about their future.

EDUCATION COMMITTEE, FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2022, 11am

*H.B. No. 5285 (RAISED) AN ACT CONCERNING THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CURRICULUM.

To require that all school districts provide climate change instruction as part of the science curriculum, to establish a pilot program for the teaching of financial literacy and to establish the Connecticut Civics Education Task Force.

• Individuals who wish to testify via Zoom must register using the On-line Testimony Registration Form.  Registration will close on Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 3:00 P.M. Speaker order of approved registrants will be posted on the Education Committee website on Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 6:00 P.M. under Public Hearing Testimony.
• Please email written testimony in Word or PDF format to EDtestimony@cga.ct.gov.

TALKING POINTS:

• I support climate change education in our public schools. The mission of public schooling is to prepare our children for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. In order to prepare Connecticut's children to be active, productive citizens we need to educate them about arguably the biggest challenge facing our nation and the globe, which is climate change. It is critical that we teach our children the importance of climate change and how it directly affects their lives so they can make informed decisions about their future.
• In 1993, CT DEEP enacted its Environmental Equity Policy, which states that, “...no segment of the population should, because of its racial or economic makeup, bear a disproportionate share of the risks and consequences of environmental pollution or be denied equal access to environmental benefits.", but a critical component of effective environmental justice is having those communities represented when decisions are made regarding climate planning in our state and local communities, and they can't be involved if they haven't learned the basics about how climate change affects them and their families.
• As our climate changes rapidly, many communities are completely unprepared for the changes which we are already experiencing. The impacts of increased heat, increased flooding, increased storms, and raised prices for basic necessities such as shelter, water, food, heat, and electricity will hit low income communities, and low lying communities hard.
• The general lack of public information has led to a lack of representation of black and brown workers in clean energy careers. The absence of education on the interconnectedness of energy impacts, health, and wealth has slowed uptake of energy saving upgrades in renters, and in black and brown communities.

The Education Committee will hold a public hearing on Friday, March 4, 2022 at 11:00 A.M. via Zoom.  The public hearing can be viewed via YouTube Live.  In addition, the public hearing may be recorded and broadcast live on CT-N.com. If you do not have internet access, you may provide testimony via telephone.  To register to testify by phone, call the Phone Registrant Line at (860) 240-0420 to leave your contact information.  Testimony should clearly state testifier name and related Bills and/or Resolutions.  The Committee requests that testimony be limited to matters related to the items on the Agenda.  The first hour of the hearing is reserved for Legislators, Constitutional Officers, State Agency Heads and Chief Elected Municipal Officials.  Speakers will be limited to three minutes of testimony.  The Committee encourages witnesses to submit a written statement and to condense oral testimony to a summary of that statement.  All public hearing testimony, written and spoken, is public information.  As such, it will be made available on the CGA website and indexed by internet search engines.