Bill Text: MI HB4982 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Education; curriculum; environmental literacy task force to develop environmental literacy model curriculum and report on the curriculum; provide for. Amends 1976 PA 451 (MCL 380.1 - 380.1852) by adding sec. 1158.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-09-20 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 09/19/2017 [HB4982 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2017-HB4982-Introduced.html

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HOUSE BILL No. 4982

 

 

September 20, 2017, Introduced by Reps. Pagan, Wittenberg, Chang, Geiss, Yanez, Green, Moss, Ellison, Sneller, Rabhi, Sowerby, Clemente, Camilleri, Hoadley, LaGrand, Durhal, Liberati, Hammoud and Gay-Dagnogo and referred to the Committee on Education Reform.

 

     A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled

 

"The revised school code,"

 

(MCL 380.1 to 380.1852) by adding section 1158.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 1158. (1) The environmental literacy task force is

 

created as a temporary commission described in section 4 of article

 

V of the state constitution of 1963. The department shall provide

 

staffing and support for the environmental literacy task force.

 

     (2) The environmental literacy task force shall consist of 13

 

members as follows:

 

     (a) The superintendent of public instruction or his or her

 

designee.

 

     (b) The director of the department of environmental quality or

 

his or her designee.

     (c) One member representing the water resources division of

 

the department of environmental quality, as appointed by the

 

director of that department.

 

     (d) The director of the department of natural resources or his

 

or her designee.

 

     (e) One member representing the parks and recreation division

 

of the department of natural resources, as appointed by the

 

director of that department.

 

     (f) One member representing the wildlife division of the

 

department of natural resources, as appointed by the director of

 

that department.

 

     (g) One member representing the forest resources division of

 

the department of natural resources, as appointed by the director

 

of that department.

 

     (h) One member representing the fisheries division of the

 

department of natural resources, as appointed by the director of

 

that department.

 

     (i) The director of the department of agriculture and rural

 

development or his or her designee.

 

     (j) A representative of the Michigan Science Teachers

 

Association.

 

     (k) A representative of the Michigan Association of School

 

Administrators.

 

     (l) A representative of the Michigan Association of Secondary

 

School Principals.

 

     (m) A representative of the Michigan Elementary and Middle

 

School Principals Association.

     (3) The members first appointed to or serving as designees on

 

the environmental literacy task force shall be appointed or

 

designated within 30 days after the effective date of this section.

 

     (4) If a vacancy occurs on the environmental literacy task

 

force, the official who appointed or designated the member who

 

vacated shall appoint or designate a replacement in the same manner

 

as the original appointment or designation.

 

     (5) The superintendent of public instruction shall call the

 

first meeting of the environmental literacy task force within 60

 

days after the effective date of this section. At the first

 

meeting, the environmental literacy task force shall elect from

 

among its voting members a chairperson and other officers as it

 

considers necessary or appropriate. After the first meeting, the

 

environmental literacy task force shall meet at times and places

 

specified by the chairperson or a majority of its voting members.

 

     (6) A majority of the members of the environmental literacy

 

task force constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at a

 

meeting of the environmental literacy task force. A majority of the

 

members present and serving are required for official action of the

 

environmental literacy task force.

 

     (7) The business that the environmental literacy task force

 

may perform shall be conducted at a public meeting of the

 

environmental literacy task force held in compliance with the open

 

meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275.

 

     (8) A writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or

 

retained by the environmental literacy task force in the

 

performance of an official function is subject to the freedom of

information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.

 

     (9) Members of the environmental literacy task force shall

 

serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for their actual

 

and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their

 

official duties as members of the environmental literacy task

 

force.

 

     (10) The department, the department of environmental quality,

 

the department of natural resources, and the department of

 

agriculture and rural development shall assist the environmental

 

literacy task force in the performance of its official duties and

 

functions, including, but not limited to, providing the

 

environmental literacy task force with advice and information that

 

is not protected as confidential under applicable law.

 

     (11) The environmental literacy task force shall do all of the

 

following:

 

     (a) Develop an environmental literacy model curriculum

 

designed to accomplish the following goals:

 

     (i) Prepare students for understanding and addressing

 

environmental challenges of this state and the United States,

 

including the relationship of the environment to national security,

 

energy sources, climate change, health risks, and natural

 

disasters.

 

     (ii) Contribute to students' healthy lifestyles by making

 

outdoor experiences part of the regular school curriculum and

 

creating programs that promote healthy lifestyles through outdoor

 

recreation and proper nutrition.

 

     (iii) Create opportunities for enhanced and ongoing

professional development of teachers that improves teachers'

 

knowledge of environmental issues and teaching skills related to

 

those issues in settings within and outside of the classroom.

 

     (iv) Recommend improvements to existing environmental

 

curricula, including the Michigan environmental education support,

 

Michigan environmental literacy plan, and next generation science

 

standards. The task force shall assess the extent to which the

 

existing curricula are implemented in this state, address

 

environmental literacy, and meet literacy goals.

 

     (v) Teach students about 21st century jobs, growing

 

industries, and ways to protect and improve the environment by

 

including in the model curriculum instruction on alternative

 

energy, renewable fuels, material science, energy-saving

 

technology, low-impact development, and buildings certified in

 

leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) or buildings

 

meeting a substantially similar standard.

 

     (b) Identify and make recommendations on all of the following

 

to achieve the goals of the environmental literacy model

 

curriculum:

 

     (i) Applicable academic content standards, content areas, and

 

courses or subjects.

 

     (ii) The relationship between the environmental literacy model

 

curriculum and high school graduation requirements.

 

     (iii) Standards used by the department to measure the

 

environmental literacy of students.

 

     (iv) Professional development programs that improve teachers'

 

knowledge of environmental issues and teaching skills relating to

those issues in settings within and outside of the classroom.

 

     (v) Definitions for key terms that must be addressed in the

 

environmental literacy model curriculum, including "environmental

 

literacy", "climate change", and "healthy lifestyle".

 

     (vi) How to implement the environmental literacy model

 

curriculum, including recommendations regarding funding sources and

 

other necessary supports.

 

     (vii) How to encourage educational agencies and schools to

 

participate in programs that do the following:

 

     (A) Improve teachers' knowledge of environmental issues and

 

teaching skills relating to those issues in settings within and

 

outside of the classroom.

 

     (B) Treat the development of teachers' environmental knowledge

 

and related teaching skills as a career-long process that

 

encourages teachers' intellectual growth and teaching proficiency

 

regarding environmental issues.

 

     (C) Develop a teacher training curriculum that focuses on

 

environmental education and is aligned with applicable academic

 

content standards.

 

     (D) Allow students to directly experience the outdoors by

 

providing environmental education experiences that are based on

 

outdoor activities and that use outdoor facilities.

 

     (E) Incorporate field-based learning, place-based learning,

 

service learning, outdoor learning, or experimental learning.

 

     (F) Integrate environmental education into the curriculum by

 

training teachers and administrators how to use field-based

 

learning, place-based learning, service learning, outdoor learning,

and experimental learning and by encouraging and supporting

 

teachers to use the training in the curriculum.

 

     (G) Provide activities and programs that advance environmental

 

education, including interdisciplinary courses that integrate the

 

study of natural, social, and economic systems and the use of the

 

environment as an integrating theme for a school curriculum.

 

     (c) Seek input from a variety of sources to develop the

 

environmental literacy model curriculum to ensure that the

 

curriculum is based on equally weighted viewpoints in furtherance

 

of critical thinking and analysis regarding environmental literacy.

 

     (d) Before submitting the report under subdivision (e), in a

 

manner and form considered appropriate by the environmental

 

literacy task force, provide public notice of the environmental

 

literacy model curriculum and an opportunity for public comment

 

during a 30-day period. In addition, the task force shall provide

 

individual notice of the environmental literacy model curriculum

 

and the 30-day public comment period to nonprofit organizations and

 

local parks and recreation associations that advance environmental

 

education in this state and, as determined appropriate by the

 

environmental literacy task force, any other interested person

 

involved in forming or implementing policies regarding education,

 

business, or the environment. After the 30-day public comment

 

period but before submitting the report under subdivision (e) and

 

as considered necessary by the environmental literacy task force,

 

the task force shall modify the environmental literacy model

 

curriculum and any information identified and recommendations

 

developed under this section.

     (e) After notice and an opportunity for public comment are

 

provided under subdivision (d) but not later than 1 year after the

 

effective date of this section, submit a report to the standing

 

committees of the legislature responsible for K-12 education

 

legislation. The report must include the environmental literacy

 

model curriculum developed under this subsection and any other

 

information identified by the environmental literacy task force

 

under this subsection and may include recommendations for

 

legislation regarding the environmental literacy model curriculum.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.