Climate change education could be coming to area classrooms.

State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, D-Rockville Centre, recently introduced S.6837 to add a new section to the state Public Authorities Law enacting the Climate Change Education Grant Program.

“Climate change education in schools is supported by 78%, yet schools are still struggling with how to incorporate the study of climate change into the classroom,” Kaminsky wrote in his legislative justification. “By providing this education, students will be prepared to understand and address the impact of global warming while also preparing them to manage current and emerging sustainable development challenges.”

The program would be offered to applicants who create climate change education programs to increase the climate literacy of children. The program would also be available to eligible applicants who develop training programs to help teachers in professional development to increase climate change education.

Grant amounts would be set by how much is spent on each program. The legislation does not stipulate how much money should be set aside in the state budget for the program. Kaminsky’s legislative justification mentions a similar program in the state of Washington. That program was approved in March 2018 and set aside $4 million for Washington’s nine educational service districts. An additional $3 million was approved for 2019 and 2020. The University of Washington partnered with a state agency created for the education outreach program to create teacher workshops and training for science teachers, with 16 teachers to be selected to develop climate-focused course materials. One of the school programs created through the program resulted in a series of classroom lessons on composting in which students composted their classroom refuse.

“This bill will improve climate literacy for students by supporting the development of climate education programs in schools,” Kaminsky wrote. “Additionally, the bill recognizes our teachers also deserve support. Through this legislation, eligible programs can apply for funding to deploy optional training programs geared toward professional development for teachers to equip them with the needed tools and resources to bring climate change education to their classrooms.”