Requires the department of education to establish an education for environmental sustainability program to teach children the importance of conserving and protecting our environment.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1344
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 9, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. PARKER, BAILEY, HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Environ-
mental Conservation
AN ACT establishing the New York state environmental sustainability
education act
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "New York
2 State Environmental Sustainability Education Act".
3 § 2. Legislative findings. The legislature finds and declares that:
4 1. In recognition of the United Nations Decade of Education for
5 Sustainable Development (2005-2014), as declared at the Johannesburg
6 Summit of 2002, New York state deems it imperative to develop and imple-
7 ment an educational program geared towards improving the capacity of
8 people to address environmental issues in the 21st century.
9 2. Our ability to fulfill our responsibility to equip New York's citi-
10 zens with the required knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed to
11 create a sustainable future and enhance our quality of life have never
12 been more critical.
13 3. More than any other time in recent history, New York's citizens
14 have the capacity to dramatically affect their natural environment, and
15 mitigate and possibly reverse our society's negative impact on our
16 natural surroundings.
17 4. New technologies and research have availed unparalleled opportu-
18 nities for us to develop and protect resources in a manner that enables
19 people to meet current needs, while also providing that future gener-
20 ations can meet future needs.
21 5. To successfully confront these environmental concerns and sensitiv-
22 ities, we must put forth a vision of education that seeks to empower
23 people of all ages to assume responsibility for creating a sustainable
24 future.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01356-01-5
S. 1344 2
1 § 3. Definitions. For the purposes of this act, the following words
2 shall have the following meanings:
3 1. "Sustainability" shall mean development that meets the needs of the
4 present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
5 their own needs. Development that occurs in such a way ensures the
6 capacity of the natural environment to meet present and future needs.
7 2. "Education for sustainability" (EFS) means to promote an under-
8 standing of the interconnectedness of environment, economy and society.
9 EFS links this understanding with inquiry and action to help students
10 build a healthy future for their communities and for the planet. EFS
11 fosters the ability to integrate scientific, economic and social know-
12 ledge and makes education more pertinent to the changing world by moving
13 beyond institutional boundaries of the disciplines and their content
14 bias. EFS helps students identify their role in local communities and
15 suggests ways to get involved. EFS shall consist of educational activ-
16 ities and training activities involving elementary and secondary
17 students (K-12), as such terms are defined in the education law and by
18 environmental education personnel.
19 § 4. Legislative directives and programs. 1. The department of educa-
20 tion is hereby required to establish a model program to guide the devel-
21 opment, implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive environmental
22 sustainability education program to be made available to public schools,
23 and assist them in developing curricula and training staff to adequately
24 prepare students to participate as active and involved citizens in
25 building a sustainable future.
26 2. The program shall be developed by the department of education, in
27 conjunction with the department of environmental conservation, and
28 modeled to promote and enhance an understanding of the concepts of
29 sustainability and improve understanding of the natural and built envi-
30 ronment, and the relationships between humans and the environment,
31 including local and global aspects of environmental problems.
32 3. The education for sustainability program shall be constructed in
33 line with the following principles:
34 a. A program that fosters clear awareness of, and concern for, econom-
35 ic, social, political and ecological interdependence in all regions of
36 New York, the United States and the world.
37 b. One that endorses an approach to teaching and learning that inte-
38 grates the goals and benefits of conservation, social justice, renewable
39 energy, cultural diversity and sustainable development into a vision for
40 social improvement.
41 c. One that ensures that students appreciate and respect the intrinsic
42 value of the whole environment, and develop an ethic of personal respon-
43 sibility and stewardship towards all aspects of the environment.
44 d. One that encourages students to participate as active and involved
45 citizens in building a sustainable future.
46 e. One that fosters appropriate applications of technology that help
47 solve, not create, problems.
48 4. The sustainability education program shall include, but not be
49 limited to, the following specific features:
50 a. The program shall be designed and tailored appropriately to suit
51 all age groups covered by the K-12 state curriculum and the department
52 shall design lesson plans and teaching strategies that are age appropri-
53 ate. The department of education shall reserve the right to include or
54 omit certain specified program requirements (listed below in this subdi-
55 vision) when tailoring the principles of sustainability to be taught at
S. 1344 3
1 each grade level, depending on the suitability of the lesson's instruc-
2 tion at each grade interval.
3 b. The program shall specifically enumerate the key topic/issue areas
4 to be studied, and shall integrate environmental education for sustaina-
5 bility issues and topics into specific key learning areas/subjects
6 located within the broader curriculum framework such as creative arts,
7 English, health and physical education, languages, mathematics and
8 economics, science and geography, history and studies of society, envi-
9 ronment and technology. The principles of sustainability shall be
10 presented and integrated wherever appropriate.
11 c. The program shall promote education for sustainable development
12 'perspectives' across learning areas to include cross-curricular units,
13 complementary teaching across several subjects, special projects,
14 performances, excursions, and visiting experts. The program may also
15 provide for collaborative projects with other schools (locally and
16 globally) to promote equity, inclusivity, and respect for all people.
17 d. The program shall raise awareness of the nature and function of
18 ecological, social, economic and political systems and how they are
19 interrelated in addressing environmental and sustainability issues.
20 e. The program shall underscore the impact that people, business,
21 industry and government have on environments and how the environment
22 shapes human activities, with particular reference to unique and
23 distinctive New York heritage traditions and settings, connecting past,
24 present, and future perspectives and/or impacts.
25 f. The program shall emphasize the role of cultural, socioeconomic and
26 political systems in environmental decision-making.
27 g. The program shall reinforce the value of innovative technologies
28 with the aim to produce places, products and services in a way that
29 reduces use of non-renewable resources, minimizes environmental impact,
30 relates people with the natural environment, and conveys the importance
31 of creating and maintaining a sustainable lifestyle.
32 h. The program shall include assessment strategies that emphasize
33 problem-solving, teamwork, decision-making, holistic thinking, clarify-
34 ing and analyzing values and opportunities for action, in order to gauge
35 and improve the effectiveness and relevance of the program.
36 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
