Initiatives can enhance environmental literacy
The Saratoga Spa State Park unveiled its new 2,350 square-foot Creekside classroom in June 2017, replacing an old comfort station. As this classroom was primarily dedicated to environmental education, this shows that the Saratoga community, are committed leaders in increasing environmental literacy within the community.
In contrast, the current administration has different views and priorities when it comes to public education. The administration’s 2018 budget request have cut funding for Title IV programs under the No Child Left Inside Act of 2015 (NCLIA); which virtually eliminates EE programs. However, the request intends to allocate $200 million for STEM education that is mainly focused on computer literacy.
Firstly, although the funds were diverted to only STEM education, $200 million is only a slight portion of the initial $1.6 billion authorized in 2017 for Title IV programs. Secondly, taking the examples from the initiatives of SSSP, there are more things this money could be invested in beyond computer literacy, that could benefit environmental literacy. The Creekside classroom project costed $667,000, which represents a small portion of this $200 million. Aside from building facilities, there are still a lot of potential things to do for EE with just a portion of these funds. In addition to partnering with other nonprofits and private organizations for funding their EE programs, States and local organizations could use a small portion of these $200 million as supplementary funding. Moreover, portions of these funds could be used for small things like funding field trips as local parks might have the learning facilities but lack the funds to gather students there. In 2016, the SSSP ConnectKids-to-Park field trip grant program costed $500,000, provided 750 field trips for 30,000 public school students. Although small, these contributions could offer significant learning opportunities for students to enhance their environmental literacy. Miary Rasoanaivo Saratoga Springs