Bill Text: CA AB1913 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Los Angeles Community College District: California Center for Climate Change Education.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-08-11 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB1913 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB1913-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 28, 2022 |
Introduced by Assembly Member Bryan |
February 09, 2022 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:SEC. 2.
Article 8 (commencing with Section 78085) is added to Chapter 1 of Part 48 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:Article 8. The California Center for Climate Change Education
78085.
This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the California Center for Climate Change Education.78086.
As used in this article, the following definitions apply:(a)The California Center for Climate Change Education is hereby established in the Los Angeles Community College District. The center shall be located at West Los Angeles College to lead in climate change education as the only community college in the nation, as of the 2021–22 academic year, to offer an associate’s degree in climate change and environmental studies.
(b)The primary purpose of the center is to develop educational resources to assist students and faculty of the state’s public elementary, secondary, and postsecondary systems by providing fact-based education about climate change and its direct relation to equity and environmental justice issues.
(c)The center shall
support the interrelationships of climate change education and sustainability initiatives, establish opportunities for students to engage in internships, externships, apprenticeships, and other work-based learning opportunities, and partner with local and regional educational institutions, local governments, businesses, industries, and nonprofit organizations to promote education about climate change and sustainability.
(d)The center shall serve as a resource for the state’s public elementary, secondary, and postsecondary educational institutions, specifically on climate change education and policy with the understanding that, at its core, climate change is a global issue of equity and social justice.
(e)The center shall develop partnerships with local school districts, nonprofit organizations, and district entities in developing and supporting programs and initiatives that
expand beyond climate sustainability and into climate change education.
(f)The center shall develop relationships with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization and its Education for Sustainable Development program to infuse the precepts of the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement, and the associated Action for Climate Empowerment agenda into local and statewide curricula.
(g)The center shall establish partnerships with public and private four-year postsecondary educational institutions that include climate change policy and sustainability as part of their current bachelor’s of science degrees.
(h)Curricula developed in partnership with the center shall meet all of the following requirements:
(1)Meet state requirements to provide access to climate change curricula across all of the state’s community colleges.
(2)Explore how science, technology, engineering- and mathematics initiatives can contribute to climate change education.
(3)Build a clear climate change pathway that leads to appropriate certificates, degrees, and employment opportunities.
(i)The center shall encourage student engagement by doing all of the following:
(1)Enhancing partnerships with nonprofit organizations that encourage the development of student internships and work-based learning opportunities.
(2)Establishing climate change grants for students to do individual research.
(3)Supporting the district’s Energize Colleges Fellowship program in addressing climate change.
(4)Exploring and expanding internships, preapprenticeships, apprenticeships, and other work-based learning opportunities in the equity, environmental justice, and green jobs sectors.
(j)The center shall establish career development opportunities by doing all of the following:
(1)Creating a regional career training center.
(2)Providing ongoing market analysis of green jobs and creation of new occupations.
(3)Partnering with local WorkSource centers to expand student and community access to, and knowledge about, green jobs.
(4)Partnering with external entities to support the “Just Transition” concept of the workforce in Los Angeles’ urban oil fields to train individuals in climate change-related employment.
(5)Partnering with local and regional entities to support the workforce training needed in the greening of the energy grid and other industries.
(k)The center shall enhance community outreach and engagement by doing all of the following:
(1)Developing an annual urban climate change and sustainability conference.
(2)Providing training and professional development for public school teachers in strategies to teach climate change based on science and evidence.
(3)Creating a visiting lecturers’ program that provides outreach education to the County of Los Angeles.
(4)Supporting regional industries by providing information on how to choose greener options and raise awareness amongst stakeholders.
(l)The center’s administrators shall do all of the following:
(1)Recruit for and hire a fixed-term director to coordinate all of the center’s services and programs.
(2)Provide release time to develop curricula and to confirm transfer agreements with the California State University and the University of California.
(3)Engage a grant writer to pursue additional funding opportunities.
(4)Partner with philanthropic organizations to procure gifts and donations in support of climate change education initiatives and to sustain the future of the center.
(m)(1)The sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund for the development and initial operations of the center.
(2)The money appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) may be encumbered for up to a five-year period.
(3)The money appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) may be used for any of the following purposes:
(A)Develop curricula related to climate change education.
(B)Develop educational
resources to assist public elementary, secondary, and postsecondary faculty in providing fact-based education about climate change and its direct relation to equity issues.
(C)Support the interrelationships of climate change education and sustainability initiatives.
(D)Establish opportunities for students to engage in hands-on internships and other learning opportunities.
(E)Hire staff to develop the center.
(F)Other areas of need related to climate change education.
78087.
(a) The California Center for Climate Change Education is hereby established in the Los Angeles Community College District. The center shall be located at West Los Angeles College.