Assembly Bill 3468 would, if enacted, require the state commissioner of education to "create and establish a comprehensive and accurate climate change and sustainability curriculum which shall be taught in grades kindergarten through twelve in all public and charter schools." The curriculum would include "instruction on how human activities cause climate change, the effects of climate change, the dangers associated with climate change[,] and preventative measures that can be taken to alleviate the impacts of climate change." Local districts would be expected to use the curriculum or a substantially similar curriculum. The bill was introduced by Linda B. Rosenthal (D-District 67) and referred to the Assembly Committee on Education.
No fewer than five previous bills currently active in the New York state legislature also seek to support climate change education. Four of them, Assembly Bill 2325 and the identical Senate Bill 1081, Senate Bill 596, and Senate Bill 654, similarly require the state commissioner of education to establish a model curriculum for or offer recommendations about climate change instruction; the fifth, Assembly Bill 617, also sponsored by Rosenthal, would establish a program "to award grants to eligible applicants to support climate change education grant programs for young people or to provide optional teacher training or professional development programs relevant to the advance of climate change literacy in young people."
