Oregon Educator Association (OEA) Support
Calling all Oregon Educators: Join the new OEA Climate Caucus!
New Business Item - Request
Our Request: OEA will support the draft legislation on K-12 climate education that is being brought forth by Oregon Educators for Climate Education and the OEA Caucus for Climate Education. This support will include opportunities to work with the OEA lobbying team, a formal letter of support from OEA, and other support as needed to help pass the legislation in the Oregon Legislature.
Rationale: In response to student advocacy throughout our state, and realities being faced across our planet, OEA is being asked to approve and help pass draft legislation for K-12, multidisciplinary, place-based climate change education developed by local educators and students.
New Business Item Statement (April 30, 2022)
For years, students from across our state have been demanding action on climate change. Oregon Educators for Climate Education is mostly composed of OEA members who have been working with teachers and students from across the state to develop a place-based, hope-inspiring legislative vision for K-12 climate education. Older students are concerned about their younger siblings, cousins and friends. And we all know elementary students can be nurtured to grow in their love, appreciation, and sense of connection to nature, as well as their understanding of where things come from and where they go. Teachers of all subjects can be part of these efforts. Art, poetry, writing , science experiments, mathematical modeling, and nutrition and health, all complement this work. In this proposal, students can see themselves as part of the solutions in the present and for the future. This is particularly important for students of color, who already are disproportionately impacted by a changing environment. Oregon legislators with knowledge of this work have already expressed their support, and would like to see these plans come to fruition in the 2023 legislative cycle. We are ever-broadening our coalition, and today we ask the assembled delegates of the Oregon Education Association to approve this new business item, to support this work, help refine it with increased member voice, and use a small portion of OEA's resources to promote a collective vision among lawmakers during and ahead of the 2023 legislative session. We invite you, check out oregonclimateed.org. Again, that's oregonclimateed.org. Thank you.
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