| Can 96% of America's parents
be wrong? That is what Wisconsin school districts seem
to be saying to us. A recent Roper Poll that surveyed
our nation's parents indicated that 96% support
environmental education in their schools. Despite this
overwhelming majority, there is not nearly enough
environmental education in Wisconsin schools.
Wisconsin state legislation requires
environmental education to be taught in public schools.
Each school district is mandated to have a K-12
environmental education (EE) curriculum. A survey of
Wisconsin teachers and curriculum coordinators was conducted
by a UW- Stevens Point graduate research seminar in the fall
of 1999. Almost a quarter of the teachers surveyed
said that their school district does not have an EE
curriculum plan, even though the law requires it. In
the districts that do have an EE plan, only about 40% of the
teachers said they are satisfied with it. Respondents
believed that only 31% of teachers use their district's EE
curriculum.
Wisconsin has academic standards and
curriculum guidelines to aid school districts in developing
and implementing EE curriculum. As a community, we
should be concerned about how thoroughly our district is
complying with these standards and guidelines. We need
to address our school boards about this issue and get our
community leaders involved in its resolution.
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