Background

Climate education in Illinois is highly variable from district to district. It is mostly on an ad-hoc basis (eg Earth Week projects).  There are plenty of materials available for educators, but implementation is up to individual teachers and teachers typically do not have time allocated for this within the current curriculum.  

NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards), implemented since 2016 in Illinois do include some climate curriculum content.  However, NGSS climate education content is only as of grade 6 and only in earth sciences.   The content is focused on climate change facts, but not on action/empowerment (potentially fuelling eco anxiety).  They provide little guidance and support for teachers. 

A handful of individual schools have started to incorporate more climate education into their curriculum. For example, in Evanston, the elementary school district has been piloting a curriculum that gets students outdoors and focuses on learning by doing and Evanston Township High School has been incorporating climate curriculum through science and civics courses. 

These examples are exceptions and the majority of school districts in Illinois provide their students little to no climate education. Without climate education legislation, these fragmented efforts cannot reach all students or happen at a pace that reflects the immediacy of the climate crisis.