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Miniature world - Understand your neighbors better

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Miniature world - Understand your neighbors better

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SDG 17

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The miniature earth | World Vision Australia

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SDG 16

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Violence against children | Department of Economic and Social Affairs

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The protection of children from all forms of violence is a fundamental right enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The inclusion of a specific target (SDG 16.2) in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to end all forms of violence against children gives renewed impetus tow…

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CHANGE: Family (and community) engagement programs. Set aside money that is specifically for families (free food and daycare at conferences, programs that get parents involved, programs that involve the local businesses).

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CHANGE: Family (and community) engagement programs. Set aside money that is specifically for families (free food and daycare at conferences, programs that get parents involved, programs that involve the local businesses).

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Environmental kits for schools available through grants

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Environmental kits for schools available through grants

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SDG 15

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Resources, news and promotional materials for our environmental education partners.

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CHANGE: Green programs. Set aside money that is specifically for improving the school grounds and building (solar, composting programs, enough janitors, programs that get kids involved).

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CHANGE: Green programs. Set aside money that is specifically for improving the school grounds and building (solar, composting programs, enough janitors, programs that get kids involved).

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CHANGE: Increase the amount of money (%15) the Federal Gov. allocates for public education and make sure that money is set aside for specific school programs

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CHANGE: Increase the amount of money (%15) the Federal Gov. allocates for public education and make sure that money is set aside for specific school programs

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U.S. Public Education Spending Statistics [2023]: per Pupil + Total

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Find out how much the U.S. spends on public education and how the costs break down per student, by state and by level of government.

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How green spaces at school and socioeconomic status effect children's behaviors

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How green spaces at school and socioeconomic status effect children's behaviors

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SDG 11

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Teachers and students (stakeholders) may feel safer with SRO's present. Resulting in better relationships and outcomes.

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Teachers and students (stakeholders) may feel safer with SRO's present. Resulting in better relationships and outcomes.

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Help children focus on what's important and allow curiosity. Programs that teach science, design, and how to use everyday materials.

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Help children focus on what's important and allow curiosity. Programs that teach science, design, and how to use everyday materials.

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SDG 9

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Incorporate composting into school curriculums. 

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Incorporate composting into school curriculums. 

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SDG 12

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 Climate action - schools can do their part too

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 Climate action - schools can do their part too

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SDG 13

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"In most school districts, the second-largest yearly expense after salaries is the energy bill."

That's a quote from Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking earlier this month at an elementary school in Washington, D.C.

She was announcing a new, multibillion-dollar federal push to renovate public schools in ways that are healthier both for children and the planet - and often, that save money too.

The funds are spread across several different agencies and programs. The White House released a toolkit with details:

Heating and cooling upgrades: studies show that schools are on deck to spend $9.7 billion of American Rescue Plan funds to upgrade heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems - something that became top of mind to curb the spread of COVID-19. More efficient HVAC systems could lower energy costs and emissions.

Cleaner transportation: a $5 billion rebate program from the Environmental Protection Agency that replaces old, mostly diesel-fueled buses. Half the money is specifically for electric buses.

Carbon-free commuting: some of the $90 billion in the Department of Transportation's highway safety funds can be used to help with route planning so more students can walk or bike to school.

Lower power costs, more light: a $500 million Department of Energy grant program, paid for by the infrastructure law, can be used for things like LED lights, better insulation, and solar panels.

As the Vice President noted in her speech, many of these changes bring health benefits to students. Cleaner, fresher air in buildings and lower emissions from buses mean fewer asthma attacks and less severe allergies. And, as we've all become hyper aware of recently, improved ventilation in school buildings lowers the risk of spreading some illnesses. Bike-friendly schools invite students to get more exercise. Better ventilation and more comfortable temperatures, the EPA says, are consistently linked to better performance in school.

And of course, scientists say the world needs to reduce emissions fast to avoid the most extreme dangers of climate change. Schools could be a great place to work on this, for two big reasons.

Schools are a significant source of emissions

First of all, public school infrastructure is huge. There are almost 100,000 schools in all 50 states. Students arrive on nearly half a million yellow buses - the National School Transportation Association says that's five times the total number of city buses, although school buses travel fewer miles. The Energy Information Association says K-12 school buildings consume about 8% of all the fuel used by nonresidential buildings in the country.

Laura Schifter leads K12 Climate Action at the Aspen Institute, a coalition dedicated to moving schools to embrace sustainability.

She says greener renovations bring long-term savings but sometimes have upfront costs. And school leaders may not be familiar with their changing options.

Federal initiatives, like this one, can get schools making lower-carbon choices while promoting equity. "And it's targeted towards school districts that have poor air quality and access to capital," says Schifter. "So there's a lot of opportunity there to help make these investments in communities that need them most."

Teachers are bringing sustainability to the classroom

Another big benefit to green schools is that students can learn about climate solutions through firsthand experience.

Schifter recounts a visit to Alice West Fleet Elementary in Arlington, Virginia, which is fossil-fuel-free thanks to solar and geothermal heating. "In their main lobby, there's a 'power pole' and the students can see, in real time, energy that's produced versus energy that's consumed."

The building plan is integrated into the curriculum. "In their math class, we saw that there were charts ... students were graphing the amount of energy that the solar panels were producing that were right outside."

And, Schifter said, students become evangelists for these ideas.

"The strategies that the kids we learn in school, they're taking home and they're talking to their parents like, 'Hey, we have this rain barrel at school, can we have rain barrels at home?' or, 'We're composting at school, can we compost at home?'"

With that connection, changes made at schools can spread to the community at large.

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In an effort to make schools greener, the White House is offering billions of dollars

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From solar panels to electric buses - the Biden Administration wants to make it easier for schools to tap more than $5.5 billion for climate-friendly upgrades.

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Reduce ocean plastic by creating school sustainable committee's or environmental clubs. 

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Reduce ocean plastic by creating school sustainable committee's or environmental clubs. 

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SDG 14

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Plastic Free Dining | Environmental Sustainability - UNSW Sydney

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With over 50,000 students across UNSW campuses, we collectively have an impact on the world around us. As a part of our continuing commitment to be a sustainable university and aligned with our Environmental Sustainability Plan 2019-21, UNSW Estate Management is proud to introduce Plastic Free Dinin…

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SDG 10

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The Center on Gender Justice & Opportunity at Georgetown Law

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Our Mission
The Center on Gender Justice & Opportunity works to uncover and eliminate gender and racial disparities across public systems, including in schools, courtrooms, and hospitals. We start by investigating the root causes of injustice through groundbreaking research and work to develop innovative law and policy solutions. Our efforts are informed by girls and rooted in their lived experiences.
Our work fills a gap in the field by grounding our work in stories and experiences of girls, women, and gender-expansive youth who are marginalized.

Our approach is intersectional, because there can be no gender justice without racial equity, and no racial justice without gender equity.

Our focus includes all the public spaces that touch the lives of girls and gender-expansive youth, so that their treatment can be just and their childhood can be truly free.
Within our distinct focus on girls and women:

We believe in an expansive definition and experience of gender, inclusive of people who are nonbinary, trans, people who were raised as or are perceived as girls or women

We recognize intersectionality across the many identities that people hold

We are inclusive in our language and our approach

We welcome all who find representation and purpose in our work.

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About Us - The Center on Gender Justice & Opportunity at Georgetown Law

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The Center aims to help support and empower marginalized girls to thrive and lead healthy lives.

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"Schools have a mission to prepare students for their bright futures. By switching to clean energy, schools can teach our youth and model for our communities how we will achieve a stable climate and a healthy planet together" 

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"Schools have a mission to prepare students for their bright futures. By switching to clean energy, schools can teach our youth and model for our communities how we will achieve a stable climate and a healthy planet together" 

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SDG 7

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SRO's can negatively effect young girls of color

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SRO's can negatively effect young girls of color

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SDG 5

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"Studies have demonstrated that drinking water can improve students’ readiness to learn by increasing their level of cognitive functioning" - 

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"Studies have demonstrated that drinking water can improve students’ readiness to learn by increasing their level of cognitive functioning" - 

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SDG 6

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"Children of incarcerated parents face profound and complex threats to their emotional, physical, educational, and financial well-being" (SDG3 & SDG4)

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Students with a weapon are expelled from school due to Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994

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Students and families living in poverty 

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Students and families living in poverty 

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SDG1 and SDG2

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Absences, violence, and lack of motivation in schools

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Absences, violence, and lack of motivation in schools

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SDG1

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Parents (stakeholders) call to remove SRO's from schools.

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Parents (stakeholders) call to remove SRO's from schools.

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"The reason I was supportive of this law is A) George Flyod. We don't want that to happen in our schools" (DFL member - AKA STAKEHOLDER)

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Law enforcement agencies have started pulling school resource officers out of buildings in response to a new state law about restraint policies.

ST PAUL, Minn. - After several law enforcement agencies suspended their school resource officer (SRO) programs in response to a new state law about restraint policies, DFL leaders said Tuesday that they're open to adjusting the language when the legislature returns to the capitol in February.

Senator Steve Cwodzinski (DFL-Eden Prairie), the chair of the Education Policy Committee, said the Minnesota Department of Education proposed the new rules around restraints within school buildings. Ultimately, DFL leaders passed the law as a part of a broader, 341-page education spending bill. The clause in question bans SROs from placing students face-down in the prone position, restricting their breathing, or putting pressure on the upper body, unless there's a threat of death or injury.

"The reason I was supportive of this law is, A) George Floyd. We don't want that to happen in our schools," Cwodzinski said in an interview with KARE 11 on Tuesday. "The law got passed. The law was signed by Gov. Walz. It passed out of policy in the Senate and the House, and then all the sudden about two weeks ago, [my] phone starts ringing off the hook."

Despite assurances from Attorney General Keith Ellison that police could still use certain restraints to prevent death or injury, some law enforcement groups have said the law remains too vague and opens their officers to liability on the job. The Anoka County Sheriff's Office, Coon Rapids Police, the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, and the Clay County Sheriff's Office are among those who have pulled some SROs out of buildings ahead of the school year.

"We're all trying to juggle right now, to figure out how we should proceed," Cwodzinski said. "Everybody that has talked to me, they have my word. We're going to have a hearing on this and we'll invite all the stakeholders - the chief of police, the SROs, the school administrators, counselors, everybody, because we want to hear and we want to get it right."

During an interview with WCCO Radio on Tuesday, Gov. Walz said he was also open to clarifying the law.

"The Attorney General, we're trying to get some folks [to] get clarification," Walz said in the interview. "If we need to, we just come back and change it and make sure, because those officers, we need to make sure that they and the students are safe. But we also need to make sure that we're not using excessive force to break up a fight. And I think that was the intent of the law."

However, Walz said he does not plan to call a special session about the SRO issue, meaning lawmakers will have to wait until the start of the next legislative session in February 2024 to discuss the topic.

That comes as a disappointment to Republican Senator Zach Duckworth, who said there is "no question" a special session is necessary to fix the law.

"My suggestion would be simple. Let's just repeal the portion of the law that folks find controversial or ambiguous or doesn't have clarity," Duckworth said in an interview with KARE 11 on Tuesday. "Let's just hit reset and go back to where we were."

In February, Duckworth raised concerns publicly about the proposed SRO rules during an Education Policy Committee meeting.

At the time, he told his fellow lawmakers that the language "puts some limitations on what they're able to do to keep folks safe" and suggested the legislature solicit more feedback from school districts and law enforcement agencies.

"I'm not here to point fingers really. I'm interested in getting this corrected so that our kids and teachers have a safe learning environment," Duckworth said Tuesday. "We're seeing SROs being pulled out of buildings - that's an emergency. We've got to stop that."

Senator Bruce Anderson (R-Buffalo) also released a statement on Tuesday after the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office pulled an SRO out of nearby Rockford High School, saying the DFL "rushed policy through the committee process and turned a blind eye to the impact of their partisan agenda."

"We are once again seeing the results of Democrats' bad process as school resource officers are removed from our schools. We rely on SROs to help keep teachers and students safe, the removal of these officers will make our schools less safe," Anderson said. "This will continue to happen until our law enforcement officers receive the clarity they need, and with the new school year set to begin, it's critical to get this issue resolved as soon as possible."
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist: Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+

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DFL leaders say they're open to clarifying school resource officer law, as GOP leaders call for special session

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Law enforcement agencies have started pulling school resource officers out of buildings in response to a new state law about restraint policies.

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Teachers (Stakeholders) can't afford to live where they teach forcing them to leave schools. WHO HELPS STUDENTS WHEN TEACHERS ARE FORCED TO LEAVE?

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Teachers (Stakeholders) can't afford to live where they teach forcing them to leave schools. WHO HELPS STUDENTS WHEN TEACHERS ARE FORCED TO LEAVE?

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(SDG 8)

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School combats teacher shortage through affordable housing

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Violence & Gun Violence - School to prison pipe-line

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Community members (stakeholders) push for more funding and increase the number of SRO's after the Columbine High School shooting 

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Community members (stakeholders) push for more funding and increase the number of SRO's after the Columbine High School shooting 

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ARE SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS (STAKEHOLDERS) CAUSING MORE HARM THEN GOOD FOR STUDENTS AND THEIR COMMUNITIES?

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ARE SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS (STAKEHOLDERS) CAUSING MORE HARM THEN GOOD FOR STUDENTS AND THEIR COMMUNITIES?